To the McDonald family, please accept my deepest heart-felt sympathy over the passing of your dear Father.  I know how hard it is having lost a parent 7 years ago.  I hope you find comfort in knowing he's in Heaven now, the most beautiful paradise we could ever imagine!  With prayers & love from me and all of the Maurer family.

Ginny -

Words fail to express our feelings at times like this.  Prayers and love to your and your family, Ginny.

Bob was one of my favorite people ever! Always quick with a joke and very kind in general.  My mom and I truly enjoyed our visit to he and Virginias home enjoying their company and appreciating their friendship.  He will be sorely missed!! Love, Catherine "Casey" Gaule and mom Mary D. Hession

Bob was one of the best trainers I ever had the good fortune to have as both an instructor and a colleague.  Even more importantly, he was a wonderful person and one of the "most interesting men" I ever ran into.  God rest his soul.          Bob Holub Crystal Lake IL>

Remembering Bob as one of the funniest and smartest men we knew. He and Bob Mulvaney kept people in stitches. We know they and Roy are having a great time. For many years, Pat and Bob traveled around the state teaching for ISP. He was wise and kind in giving his all when teaching stress management, communication skills, or management training. He will be missed.

I always enjoyed talking to Bob at the Y during his workouts. A nice fellow.  He sure made me laugh with his story about ordering groceries online and the resultant  McDonald family tradition of theChristmas cabbage. As with most Y guys, you were never sure how much of it to believe, but a good story nonetheless! RIP, Bob, I sure enjoyed our visits.

To the family:  Bob was my supervisor in the Training Division, Dept.of
Central Mgmt. Services...and he was the best.  Bright, creative,
likeable...guess you can tell how I much I respected him.  And, he always
knew you wherever you might meet.   He is now Heaven's gain,
and our loss.  May God comfort you. He was a good guy.
Pat Straumann, Mt. Pulaski

Ginny:
I wanted to share with you my great sense of loss in Bob' passing. In 1970 my boss sent me to a training seminar that I did not want to attend. Bob was the lead trainer and I was awed by his knowledge and the transmission of useful information to me as a new entry level manager. As the years passed we bumped into one another in our respective positions in Illinois government. Bye and bye, I found myself as the Training Manager for IDOT and I was  charged to develop and implement a training program for all levels of management, as well as, entry level Civil Engineers. The Department was lucky enough to employ Bob as our Program Development Manager and this proved mutually beneficial to all parties
I then directed Bob to attend a Communispond presentations seminar and he came to me fuming that he had developed presentation skills seminars for 20 years and this was a waste of his time. He returned the following week and informed me that he had been all wrong during those two decades. This exemplified his life long commitment learning new skills. We both went on to become certified trainers in this new program and wound up training thousands of IDOT and other state employees in these valuable communication skills.

Bob also was the moving force behind the development of and in-house train the trainers program for IDOT. This led to over a hundred employees providing high quality training to their peers in a very cost effective manner. Many of these people have told me that their lives were enriched by the knowledge and skills Bob had inculcated in them through this valuable effort. While Bob will be missed, he will also be remembered by the many lives he touched at IDOT.       

Glenn Harper

OBITUARY

Robert Donald McDonald

April 30, 1931 – May 7, 2016

Bisch Funeral Home

Show your support

Add a Memory

Share Obituary

Get Updates

Services