John William Angus McDonald

John was born in Milton, Ontario, Canada and raised in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. He graduated with a degree in Electrical Engineering and a Masters in Telecommunications Engineering from Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada in 1971 where he also played on the varsity basketball team. He obtained an MBA from the University of Toronto in 1979.

John spent the first 18 years of his career at Imperial Oil Ltd in both Toronto and Calgary where he met his future wife, who was on a temporary IT assignment from Exxon in NJ and convinced her to transfer to Toronto. They were married two years later, in 1974. In 1979 they moved to Calgary, where their twin sons were born and raised.

Later career moves in Calgary included Vice-president of Supply and Transportation for Western Gas Marketing, Vice-president of Operations for AltaGas, and President and CEO of Canada Southern Petroleum.

John enjoyed tennis, golf and skiing. He had a quick, dry sense of humor and adored the Cavalier King Charles spaniels he adopted throughout the years. He was very active in coaching his sons’ teams in community basketball and little league baseball.

John and Saunders moved to Surprise, AZ in 2008 and spent the summers at their cottage in Whitefish, MT. He made many significant friendships in AZ and thoroughly enjoyed his retirement.

He leaves behind his wife of almost 47 years, Marolyn Saunders McDonald of Surprise; sons James (and partner Kerryn Kruger) of Calgary, Canada; and Robert (and wife Stephanie Albrecht) and two year old granddaughter Elliot Albrecht McDonald of Vancouver, Canada; and sister-in-law Carolyn Pearce (Clem) of Venice, Florida.

For the last few years of his life, John struggled with probable Lewy Body Dementia, and arranged for his brain to be donated after his death to the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in hopes that they can better diagnose and treat this disease in the future. In lieu of flowers, please donate to a charity of your choice or the Lewy Body Dementia Association www.lbda.org. Special thanks go to the staff at Brookdale Camino del Sol for looking after him so compassionately for the last three years and also to Suncrest Hospice who helped make his last days so comfortable.

A memorial service for John will be held Saturday, Sept 25 at 2:00 pm at the Dignity Surprise Funeral Care location, 16063 W Bell Road, Surprise, AZ,