Mary Ellen McDonald

Sioux City - Mary Ellen McDonald, 76, of Sioux City joined her beloved husband, Donnie, in heaven on their 53rd wedding anniversary, Tuesday, Sept. 10, 2013, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Services will be 10:30 a.m. Friday at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Sioux City. The Rev. Armand Bertrand will officiate. Burial will be in Calvary Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., a parish vigil at 7 p.m. followed by a rosary, all at the church. Arrangements are under the direction of Morningside Chapel, Christy-Smith Funeral Home.
Mary Ellen was born on Oct. 5, 1936, in Spirit Lake, Iowa, the daughter of Henry A. and Mildred C. (Percival) Bibow. She was raised in Spirit Lake and graduated from Spirit Lake High School in 1954. She moved to Sioux City and graduated from St. Joseph School of Nursing in 1957.
On Sept. 10, 1960, she married Donald F. McDonald at St. Mary Catholic Church in Spirit Lake. The couple lived in Sioux City, where they raised their family. Mary Ellen worked in surgery at St. Joseph Hospital and then as a surgical nurse for Drs. Black and Blenderman’s practice. She then worked as an orthopedic nurse for more than 30 years for Dr. John Doughtery. She retired from her surgical nursing career at Mercy Medical Center on June 10, 2005. Donnie passed away on Oct. 15, 2000 in Sioux City.
Mary Ellen was an active member of Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, where she served mass many times. She was also a member of the Carmelite Board and helped organize the 40 days for Pro-Life at Trinity Heights. She loved to travel with her sisters, having gone to Ireland, the Holy Land and Italy, where she was able to see the last three Popes. She loved gardening, crocheting and attending all of her grandchildren’s sporting events. Even after exhausting her energies on her children, Mary Ellen also opened her home to an extended group of children that she loved just as much.
She is survived by eight children, Raymond P. (Sherrie) McDonald, Steven B (Jennifer) McDonald, and Alec J. (Danelle) McDonald, all of Sioux City, Mary Therese (Tim) Foreman, Linda M (Bruce) Kramer, Shannon E. McDonald, and Monica J. McDonald, all of Sioux City, and Virginia A. (Michael) Mack of Dayton, Ohio; 20 grandchildren, Ashley Hodgins, Ryan McDonald, Katherine McDonald, Daniel Foreman and Jeanette Mauer, Elizabeth Foreman, Patrick Foreman, Steven Kramer, Dylan Kramer, Lauren Alford, Michael Mack Jr., Quintin Mack, Jalen Mack, Blake Harris, Brett McDonald, Max McDonald, Jacob McDonald, Isaac McDonald, Austin Butzke, Prestin Butzke, Reese McDonald; a great-granddaughter, Danica Mauer-Foreman; four sisters, Charlotte (Bob) Thoma of Sioux City, Susan (Jim) Sundlin of Spirit Lake, Sally Brennan of Emmetsburg, Iowa, and Teresa (Cliff) Garvey of Spirit Lake; and a sister-in-law, Joan (Lynn) Hall.
She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; a son, Joseph; grandsons, DeShayne , Andrew and Donnie; brother-in-law, John Brennan.