Patti Ann McDonald

Patti Ann (Long) McDonald passed away without pain or suffering on July 13th, 2022. Her celebration of life will be held at Stevens Memorial Chapel in Ames on Wednesday, August 24th. A visitation will be held from 10:00-11:00 AM. A service will be held at 11:00 AM. A graveside burial will follow. Afterward, a catered lunch will be served from one of Patti’s favorite restaurants, Hickory Park.

Patti was born to William and Maxine (Malliet) Long at Mary Greeley Hospital on April 18th, 1956. Patti spent most of her childhood on a farm in south Ames. Among Patti’s notable traits, she was cute, intelligent, kind, down-to-earth, caring, selfless, thoughtful, friendly, generous, honest, trustworthy, hard-working, fun-loving, easy-going, athletic, funny, modest, and sincere.

She attended Ballard High School where she graduated in 1974. She excelled at softball which was one of her loves in life. After graduation from Ballard High School, Patti attended Des Moines Area Community College, Iowa State University, and eventually earned a degree in Community Recreation from The University of Northern Iowa.

Patti was employed at Des Moines Area Community College where she was in charge of the intramural program. She was also employed at the Iowa State University Bookstore.

Patti was an accomplished softball player. After high school, she continued softball competing in the Amateur Softball Association at the highest level, Major-Open. In 1986 her Millikan’s Hooligans won the Iowa State Championship. After that Patti retired from softball.

In 1987 Patti married Michael McDonald, also from Ames. They were married at St. Cecilia’s Catholic Church.

After Michael graduated from Iowa State University in Metallurgical Engineering in 1986, he was fortunate enough to secure an engineering position at McDonnell-Douglas Astronautics in Huntington Beach, California. Patti followed Michael to California, where they started off life in a brand new condominium in Anaheim. After some initial homesickness being so far from Iowa, Patti was soon going to the local malls, local beaches, her beloved Disneyland, and braving the treacherous California freeways!

In 1988 Patti was fortunate enough to acquire a job at Orange Coast Community College in Costa Mesa where she was employed in the Admissions and Records office for 30 years until her retirement in 2018. One year winning the Staff Member of the Year Award. An accomplishment she was very proud of. Orange Coast College had a commemoration for her in her honor.

A few years after Patti’s retirement from softball, she became interested in physical fitness. She walked, ran, swam, lifted weights, and did exercises that would injure the average person. She maintained this regimen for years until her health started to fail. Even then, she did as much as she could. She was a gifted artist. Her specialties were calligraphy, watercolors, sketching, and photography. She oftentimes combined her talents and made her own beautiful greeting cards. She was a talented baker. Her treats were widely sought after. Her specialties included chocolate cake, brownies, and her legendary, peanut butter, chocolate rice crispy bars! She was an avid sports fan. She followed various teams from her Iowa State Cyclones and her Orange Coast College Pirates. Patti loved her country-western music. She attended a number of concerts. One could hear the music blaring from her car! Patti had an eye for jewelry. She was noted for her ring, and Disney watches collection.

Patti was a warrior. She was a testament to the human spirit. She amazed her friends, family, and caregivers. She bravely fought three forms of cancer, a broken hip, two broken legs, and cataracts without self-pity or complaint. She was referred to, at times, as “Wonder Woman”!

In addition to her excellent family, Patti had essentially an unmatched number of friends both in quantity and quality.

Patti passed away under the excellent care of hospice in her home in Cypress, California. She passed away without pain or suffering.

Left to cherish her memory are her husband, Mike, her mother-in-law, Colleen (Pete), her father-in-law, TJ, her three brothers Tom (Nancy), Mike (Becky), Gary (Deb), nieces and nephews, her aunt June, numerous cousins and friends, especially Tijai, Sandy and Ginger.

Patti will be loved and missed by all.