Robert Wayne Donaldson

Grand Prairie, Texas. Robert was born July 6, 1927 in San Antonio, Texas and soon after moved to

Grand Prairie, Texas where he was a lifelong resident.

He was known as Bob or Bobby by most people and as Pop by his granddaughters and his great-grandsons.

Bob attended Grand Prairie High School where he played basketball and made some of his

lifelong friends. When World War 2 broke out, Bob felt a strong calling to serve his country and was

not going to be deterred by the fact that he wasn’t officially old enough to enlist and serve. He

joined the U.S. Coast Guard in 1944 (at the age of 17) and later went aboard the USCG Cutter

Yankton where he made several trips to the North Atlantic, past Greenland and one of the highlights

he had mentioned, was having one of the first German submarines surrender to his ship.

When Bob returned from the War, he married his sweetheart, Wilma Joy Jones Donaldson (aka Joyce)

in July of 1947. They were happily married for 55 years until Joyce passed away in 2002. They had

one son, Scott, and their world revolved around him. The closeness of Bob and Scott marveled any

father/son relationship and the special bond they shared was truly heartwarming.

Bob went to work for Texas Electric Service Company in 1948 and was later called into the U.S.

Marine Corp. where he served one year in Cherry Point, NC in 1950. He returned to work for Texas

Electric until he joined the family nursing home business that his mother started from the ground up.

For a while, he would work at Texas Electric during the day and the nursing home at night until

around 1964 when he joined the nursing home full time. By this time, they had 2 nursing homes,

Pleasant Dale #1 and Pleasant Dale #2 and by 1968, they had their 3rd nursing home, Great Southwest

Convalescent Center. Around that time, his son, Scott, also joined the family business, along with his

cousin, Keith. The three of them eventually bought his parents out of the business and after building

a 4th nursing home, ran the business until 1986 when they sold. He did a few more stints as an

entrepreneur for the next several years and finally retired in the late 90’s to help take care of his

ailing wife.

Bob and Joyce had a fulfilling life together traveling the world to places like Italy, Mexico and all

across the US with close friends. For many of their early years together, they had a special group of

friends that would gather together and play bridge and other games on a regular basis and Bob would

often reminisce about those great days and the wonderful friendships he had over the years. Bob was

a very well respected “man about town” and served on the Board of the Grand Prairie State Bank for

many years and was also a respected member of the Shriner organization as well as a Mason. Bob

loved to play golf and whether it was with his wife, Scott, Keith, his grandson-in-law, Jim, or a group

of friends, he enjoyed his time on the golf course immensely! Bob was a man with many friends and

you would be hard pressed to find anyone that would have a negative word to say about Bobby

Donaldson.

Pop was also fortunate to have close relationships with his two granddaughters, Stacey and Martie

and enjoyed a special bond with his great-grandsons, Jackson and Cade. The memories they made

over the years will be forever cherished. Something we will always remember is how he ended every

one of our get togethers - he would never say “good-bye” but always ended with “Be sweet!”

Bob is preceded in death by his wife, Joyce; son, Scott Donaldson and parents, Venita and George

Delk. He is survived by his granddaughter, Stacey Donaldson Harycki and husband, Jim Harycki;

granddaughter, Martie Donaldson; special cousin, Keith Whitsel and wife, Gloria; great-grandsons,

Jackson & Cade Harycki; and daughter-in-law, Jamie Donaldson.

The life he lived made us all so very proud to call him our own! The legacy he left behind will be

valued by all who he touched and his love and joyous spirit will be felt for generations.

“Be sweet, Pop!”

Memorial Service will be held Saturday, March 12, 2022 at 2:00 PM at Grand Prairie Funeral

Home, 733 Dalworth St., Grand Prairie, TX 75050.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.grandprairiefh.com for the Donaldson family.