Barbara Berry McDonald

Barbara Berry McDonald was born in Lorimor, Iowa, on October 16, 1924, and died in Cedar Falls, Iowa, on June 5, 2015. Memorial services will be held at Cedar Heights Community Presbyterian Church at 1 p.m. on Friday, June 19, 2015. Interment will be at the Masonic Cemetery in Dallas Center, Iowa, on Saturday, June 20, 2015, at 1:30 p.m., with a reception following at the First Presbyterian Church in Dallas Center, Iowa. Barbara was the first of three beloved daughters of Florence (Kochheiser) Berry and Herbert J. Berry. As a child, she attended country school, later graduating as valedictorian of her Lorimor High School class. On May 8, 1943, Barbara was united in marriage to John C. McDonald, in Carbondale, Illinois, where John was attending Army Air Force officer training at Southern Illinois University. Two weeks after John’s discharge in 1946, he started law school at Drake University, and they lived in Des Moines. After his graduation, they settled in Dallas Center, where they joined the First Presbyterian Church, in which they were members and elders for more than 50 years. In 1953, they moved into the three-story craftsman home at 1507 Vine Street, where they raised their three daughters. Barbara was a loving and devoted wife, a strong woman in her own right, and a dedicated mother who unconditionally loved, supported, and nurtured her daughters through the remarkable last day of her life. Over the years she provided leadership in organizations and activities including the board of Planned Parenthood of Des Moines, Presbyterian Women, and Federated Women’s Club. In 1990, she was chosen as a member of the Iowa Volunteer Hall of Fame. In 1996, she and John were jointly honored as Dallas Center’s Volunteers of the Year. In their retirement years, Barbara and John enjoyed winters in Arizona, traveled in Europe, and visited several of the Pacific islands where John was stationed during World War II. After his death in 2005, Barbara moved to Cedar Falls, where she joined Jean and her family as a member of Cedar Heights Community Presbyterian Church. She loved attending UNI and community music and theater events, her grandchildren’s recitals, reading, and doing genealogical research. She gave each of her daughters a series of detailed family genealogies and beautifully annotated albums of family photographs. Barbara’s love and lessons in faith and life are cherished by her daughter Mary Richard (Dell) of Coralville, Iowa, and sons John Richard and Michael Richard (Kate); her daughter Joan Ackerman (Andrew) of Renton, Washington, and children Matthew Ackerman (Bethany), Kylee, and Maurine Ackerman (Andrew Johnson); her daughter Jean McDonald (Jeff Brich) and children, Joel Brich and Meredith Brich; her sisters Beverly Jones of Ankeny, Iowa, and Marlene Plaster (James) of Phoenix, Arizona; her sister-in-law Catherine VanDercreek of Tallahassee, Florida, and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that memorial gifts be directed to Cedar Heights Community Presbyterian Church in Cedar Falls, or First Presbyterian Church in Dallas Center.

Barbara Berry McDonald

October 16, 1924 - June 5, 2015