Noted Educator Glae McDonald Dies

Glae McDonald spent 34 years with the Ramona School District. Photo courtesy of Jean McDonald

By Ruth Lepper

Glae McDonald is a man who made a difference in countless lives. The well-known educator left his mark on Ramona, with more than three decades of service at the local school district. McDonald died Oct. 12, 2005, at a hospital in Escondido, after a lengthy illness with Parkinson’s disease. He was 77.

McDonald was born Sept. 10, 1928, in Smithville, Ohio, the son of the Rev. Grant and Esther McDonald. When he was 8, the family moved to the Los Angeles area. Glae graduated in 1947 from Hoover High School in Glendale.

The next move was to Ramona, where the Rev. McDonald became the founding pastor of Grace Community Church.

By that time, Glae was attending Idaho State University, where he was a star athlete in pole vaulting.

After earning his bachelor of science degree in Idaho, he returned to Ramona and attended San Diego State University for his teaching and administrative credentials. He was hired by Ramona Unified School District in 1953 to teach seventh- and eighth-grade science at Ramona Junior High School. During this time, he also coached football, track and basketball at Ramona High School.

Mr. McDonald and wife of nearly 50 years, Jean.

McDonald is credited with bringing a community swimming pool to Collier Park, and he was its first lifeguard.

After 10 years with the school district, he was asked to become principal of three schools: kindergarten through eighth grades. That included the junior high school and Ramona and Hanson Lane elementary schools.

With an increase in enrollment district wide, other principals were later hired and McDonald stayed on at Ramona Elementary. He was a principal there for 24 years before his retirement in 1986.

While at Ramona Elementary, he was responsible for bringing several grants to the district, including: Title I grant for a library and learning center; Head Start; NDEA grant for closed-circuit television; Early Childhood Education; School Improvement Program; and MDEA grant for elementary counseling, one of the first in the area.

The Ramona Teachers Association selected McDonald to be a recipient of the San Diego County Teachers Association’s “Who Award” for outstanding service to education. He is the only administrator to receive this award.

Four generations of the McDonald family worked for Ramona school district: Esther McDonald, his mother, who

was one of the district’s first kindergarten teachers; Glae, with his 34 years of service as teacher and administrator; his son, Glae Lee McDonald, who was head of bus maintenance for a number of years; and granddaughter Cori McDonald, who now teaches math at Olive Peirce Middle School, which is the successor to Ramona Junior High School, where Glae taught.

Glae’s wife, Jean McDonald, was a teacher and counselor at Ramona High School, also retiring in 1986 after 31 years with the district.

Their retirement day was a memorable one. While Glae and Jean were at their respective sites on the last day of school, their house was destroyed by fire. It was a devastating blow, but one they overcame through their strong Christian faith.

Glae and Jean met on a blind date, arranged by his older brother. Glae’s older brother and sister-in-law, younger brother and fiancee, and his parents all accompanied the couple on the date.

“That was some date,” Jean McDonald reflected. “We went in two cars...I guess he enjoyed being with me that evening. He invited me over to his brother’s house to watch football the next day.”

Soon after, Glae returned to college and they began a long-distance courtship for six months. By the time they had their second date, Glae had graduated from Idaho State University and was living in Ramona with his parents. Jean and Glae were married on Thanksgiving Eve, Nov. 24, 1955.

“We decided to stay here (in Ramona) temporarily when we first got married,” Jean said, looking back over the more than five decades they made Ramona their home.

Glae’s service to his community extended beyond the school district. He was a charter member of the Kiwanis Club of Ramona and maintained a perfect-attendance record for 40 years, missing meetings only after his health was declining. He was a past president of the local club and was instrumental in starting the high school scholarship program for Kiwanis. He was the first lieutenant governor from North County, representing the California-Nevada-Hawaii District No. 37 of Kiwanis International.

He also was a charter member of the local club’s Kiwani-Kats harmonica group, which plays at many community events. McDonald also played the trumpet and ukulele.

“Glae greatly enjoyed his harmonica soloist role as a member of the Kiwani-Kats band,” said Darrell Beck, past president of the local Kiwanis Club and leader of the Kiwani-Kats.

McDonald served as a trustee, deacon and elder over a 40-year period at Grace Community Church, where he was a charter member. He was the music elder and choir director for more than 30 years, until the early 1990s. He also taught junior and senior high Sunday School classes and was the youth director for more than 20 years.

He often played his trumpet at church and sang in a men’s quartet.

Through the years, he was active with the Ramona Teachers Association, YMCA, Ramona Junior Chamber of Commerce, Boy Scouts and

San Diego Christian Endeavor. He was named Citizen of the Year in 1985 by Ramona Chamber of Commerce for his service to the community.

McDonald was preceded in death by his parents; older brother, Robert McDonald; and granddaughter Wendy McDonald Watts.

In addition to his wife of 51 years, survivors include sons and daughters-in-law Glae Lee and Toni McDonald and Tay and Cindy McDonald, all of Tega Bay, S.C.; brother James McDonald, of Torrance; sister Eileen Graham, of Newport Beach; grandchildren Cori McDonald, of Ramona, Timothy, Rebecka, Andrew, Abigail and Jacob McDonald, all of Tega Bay, Matthew McDonald, of Washington, D.C.; and grandson-in-law Dennis Watts and great-granddaughter Alexis Watts, both of Murrieta.

A memorial service was held Oct. 16 at Grace Community Church. The family suggests memorial donations to the scholarship fund at the church or to Dollars for Scholars at Ramona High School.

Photo courtesy of Jean McDonald