Severo “Ryan” McDonald, Sr., 94, answered a call from God and departed his earthly life on Thursday, September 14, 2017. He passed peacefully at home surrounded by his wife, children and grandchildren. He was born in Hidalgo, Texas and Ryan, as he was mostly known, moved to Pharr with his family at the age of 9 and lived there the rest of his life. He married Olivia Gallegos and were together for 74 years. Ryan worked hard most of his life and was a crop crew leader in Michigan and Indiana. In 1968, he started his business, Ryan Auto Sales, in Pharr and worked until he was 83 years old. He said that he “was feeling a little tired” and decided to retire. He taught his sons the buy/sell auto trade and helped and guided them to start on their own. A humble and hard-working man, he taught his sons, daughters and grandchildren his strong work ethic by example. Ryan was successful in business and in life. Ryan and Olivia had 10 children: Gertrudes (Noe) Figueroa, Yolanda McDonald Briones, Severo (Elena) McDonald, Jr., Adela (Jose) Lopez, Roberto (Julia) McDonald, Sr., Sylvia McDonald, Omar McDonald, Oliva (Eliseo) Valdez, Martin (Lesly) McDonald and Graciela (Carlos) Vargas; 22 grandchildren, 33 great-grandchildren and 3 great-great-grandchildren.
He is survived by his two sisters Elena McDonald Rivera, Angelita Garcia Hernandez and his brother Roberto Garcia. He is preceded in death by his parents, Adolfo and Adela McDonald; his step-father, Guadalupe Garcia; two sisters, Consuelo McDonald Segovia and Claudina Garcia Mata; two brothers, Jose Garcia and Raul Garcia; and his granddaughter, Jessica Denise McDonald.
The McDonald family will be forever grateful to their sister, Sylvia, for taking care of their parents. Sylvia retired from teaching at PSJA to devote her life in caring for them and making sure that they lived comfortably. In the last 4 years of his life, she was his voice and instinctively knew his wants and needs. She has been and will always be a blessing to this family. They also want to thank Dr. Manuel Mercado and all medical staff for their compassion and loving care and last, but not least, Jovita Tirado de Arreola for all of her help in caring for him at home and at the hospital whenever needed.
Pallbearers will be his grandsons: Dr. Carlos Emmanuel Vargas, Eliseo Valdez, Jr., Javier “Harvey” Lopez, Dr. Randy Briones, Ricardo “Ricky” Briones, Ryan McDonald, Roberto “Robby” McDonald, Jr., Noe Figueroa, Jr., Rolando Figueroa and Nathan McDonald.
Viewing will be held on Saturday, September 16, 2017 from 5-9 p.m. with a prayer service at 7 p.m. at Palm Valley Funeral Home in Pharr. Funeral service will be Sunday, September 17, 2017 at 9 a.m. at Palm Valley Funeral Home in Pharr. Burial will follow at Palm Valley Memorial Gardens in Pharr. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Palm Valley Funeral Home of Pharr.
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