Services for Captain Maxwell D. McDonald, U. S. Navy retired, 99, of Ada are 10:00 a.m. Friday at the Criswell Funeral Home Chapel, Rev. Bob Langston will officiate. Burial will follow at Memorial Park Cemetery. The Navy Honor Guard will conduct military honors at the cemetery.
Capt. McDonald passed away Monday, June 20, 2016 at the VA Center in Ardmore. He was born April 5, 1917 in Holdenville to Jesse L. and Linda L. Morgan McDonald. He attended elementary school and high school at Fitzhugh and later East Central College.
He married the former Eucial Blake of Ada in April 1942 in Corpus Christie, TX. He enlisted in the Oklahoma National Guard in 1936 and transferred to the U. S. Navy as a Naval Aviation Cadet in November 1939. He qualified as a naval aviator in March 1940, served on board Aircraft Carriers and in Fighter Squadrons during World War II both in the Atlantic and Pacific. He was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat “V” during the Battle of the Philippine Sea. He was also awarded the Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal with ten stars, and the China Service Medal. Other awards included a Navy Commendation Medal and the Joint Service Medal, awarded while assigned to the National Security Agency during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Captain McDonald served numerous tours in naval aviation, becoming one of the pioneers of night carrier flight operations. He flew propeller aircraft, jets, and helicopters during a thirty years naval career. He commanded two air squadrons and two ships including the USS Okinawa, LPH-3 and had served as the Head of the Navy Section of the Army War College before retiring in 1968.
Returning first to Fittstown and later moving to Ada, he was among the first in Oklahoma to raise Charolais cattle Beefalo cattle. He later raised and raced Quarter Horses. He was prominent in the racing community at Ross Meadows track and Blue Ribbon Downs. He was a member of the American Quarter Horse Association, the Elks Club, the American Legion, and the Association of Naval Aviators.
He is survived by a son, Captain Jay G. McDonald, U. S. Navy retired of Farragut , TN; daughter, Linda McDonald of Glenview, IL; granddaughters, Kylie McDonald, Dahlgren, VA and Jessica Vassallo of Glenview, IL; and his sisters, Juanita Jones and Frances Sutherland.
He was preceded in death by his parents and his wife.
The family says those who wish may make to the Alzheimer’s Association Oklahoma Chapter, 6465 S. Yale Ave., Tulsa, OK 74136.
Obituaries may be viewed and online condolences sent to criswellfh.com.
Criswell Funeral Home, Ada
