Yvonne MacDonald

Yvonne (Gough) was born and schooled in England. She was predeceased by her husband Flying Officer Thomas Wheatley RAF whom she married in March of 1943 and who died on a Berlin raid in September of 1943. She joined the Air Transport Auxiliary and flew the rest of the war ferrying eighteen different types of single and twin engine aircraft, including Spitfires, her favorite aircraft, and Mustang fighters, to Royal Air Force squadrons from factories, maintenance units, and from squadron to squadron as needed. There were a total of 700 pilots including 165 women who flew with the ATA during the war.

Yvonne was also predeceased by her husband Neil MacDonald, born in Scotland, who died in 2001. They met in England where he was stationed as a pilot with the Royal Canadian Air Force, married and immigrated to Canada in 1946 where they lived for five years while Neil attended McGill University in Montreal. They raised their five children in Simsbury, CT (where she was well known for her tennis ability learned on the grass courts of England) while Neil worked for thirty five years for Cigna. They retired to Cape Cod, MA in 1980.

Yvonne was also predeceased by her sons David Paul in 2006 and Robert Bruce in 2010. She is survived by her children Wendy Krom , Peter MacDonald and his companion Stacey Mehaffey, John MacDonald and his wife Susan, Rob’s wife Barbara Jean MacDonald, grandchildren Matthew and his companion Janis Baxter and Jeffrey Krom, Jason and Samule MacDonald, Michael and wife Rachel ,Christopher and Kaitlin MacDonald and great grandchildren Heather and Justin Krom, and Yvonne’s sister Joy Lofthouse of England. Yvonne lived a full and exciting life. She was honored in California in 2008 by Women in International Aviation and by the British Government in September of 2008 when the remaining pilots of the ATA were honored at 10 Downing Street in London.

A celebration of her life will be held on Saturday, September 27, 2014 at 1 pm at Saint Mary’s Episcopal Church, 3055 Main Street, Barnstable, MA and a brief Committal Service at Saint Alban’s Episcopal Church, 197 Bushy Hill Road, Simsbury, CT on Sunday October 5, 2014 at 1 pm. In lieu of flowers, donations to the Boston Foundation for Sight, 464 Hillside Avenue, Suite 205, Needham, MA 02494 or BostonSight.org. They gave Yvonne the gift of what little sight she had. For online guest book please visit www.nickersonbournefuneralhome.com

Arrangements under the direction of Nickerson~Bourne Funeral Home, Sandwich, MA.