Mitchell Hunter Mcdonald

Mitchell Hunter McDonald of Los Angeles passed away January 11, 2017. Memorial services will be 2:00 p.m., Sunday, January 22, at Temple Rodef Shalom. A brief reception will follow. This is a parent’s elegy of innocence, youth and love. Chaucer once said that time and tide wait for no man. Unfortunately, Mitchell had many that loved him that wish that they would have waited. Mitchell was born to the union of Charles and Marci on July 31, 1981, in Waco, Texas. He was reared in North Waco until he was six years old and then, until the 10th grade, in China Spring, Texas. He was Jewish and had his Bar Mitzvah in 1995 at Temple Rodef Sholom. He and his sister Shawn Lee are part of a family membership in this Temple. He was an avid sports enthusiast and played both football and baseball. Of course, he was seldom far from his He-Man collection. He played football from the time he was seven until he graduated from Reicher High School. He achieved several awards and was named “state honorable mention” his senior year. He graduated from Reicher in 2000. He went from there to the University of Texas at Austin where he graduated, in 2005, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Radio-Television-Film. Along the way he made many friends as he was an empathetic and gregarious person that truly “never met a stranger”. He was blessed with an almost dazzling smile and the gift for easy conversation. He literally lit up a room as he entered it, spoke with or met most there and worked it akin to an old Southern politician. Although Mitchell interned with Sony Music Distribution in New York, he went to work in Las Vegas, Nevada with some of the largest and most popular nightclubs there. These included: Pure, Tryst, XS, and Drais. While with the sales and management teams with those clubs he engendered several hundred thousand dollars for them. He also acquired many friends there including one of his best, Jason Davis. He stayed in this line of work until 2009. As he tired of the “club scene”, he dabbled for a while in writing semi-professionally and had a blog of his own for some time. He made a career change around 2010 and entered the medical sales field that took him from marketing durable medical equipment to where he sold spinal devices and other specialized medical equipment that required him to be in operatories during procedures on a regular basis. He did this work in Austin, Houston, Beaumont, as well as other places, and ended up in California. He enjoyed this medical field and worked in it until his demise. Mitchell was a very caring, kind, and loving person who would always lend an ear (or a dollar), along with an occasional drink, to his friends or anyone in need. He was very witty at times almost to the point of being a stand-up comedian and could cause you to laugh to the point of tears. He was very conscientious of others needs and wants. He always tried hard to fulfill such for his friends and loved ones. It is doubtful anyone would say he was not successful at this. He was also a very dutiful and loving son. He grew into such a stalwart man. If Mitchell was still alive, corporally, he would say as Tolkien said: “The road goes ever on and on down from the door where it began. Now far ahead the road has gone, and I must follow if I can”. Mitchell had a very special relationship with his sister, Shawn Lee McDonald. They loved one another to the nth degree. They corresponded in some manner almost daily. Of course this didn’t mean they didn’t fight like cats and dogs at times, but for the most part they were almost “Siamese twins”. With his passing, to her, it’s as if half of her is missing. Approximately 4 ½ years ago, Mitchell met his life mate, Katrina Harding. They were engaged and planning to be married in the very near future (He had discussed this with his parents during the recent holidays). He and Katrina were both living in Long Beach, California, at the time of his passing. They recently found out they were expecting a child. The child is expected to be male and is in tiptop shape medically. This G_d-given wonderment is a cause for great exaltation, but a magnifier of Mitchell’s tragedy, within our families. In our hearts we know that both G_d and Mitchell are both watching over them. Mitchell was predeceased by his grandparents: Peggy Delaney (MeMaw), Rae Ann Chenet (Mimi), Charles M. McDonald (Grandpa Mac), Leonard Solomon (Grandpa) and Richard Hunter Delaney, Jr. (PePaw). He is survived by: Marci Beth McDonald (Mother), Charles (Chuck) Warren McDonald (Father), his life mate, Katrina Harding, and her parents Alan and Karen Harding, his aunts Debbie Solomon, Sharon Solomon, and Peggy Greenlee, uncle Sam Delaney, cousins, Chelsey Solomon and Morgan Greenlee, great uncle Harry Solomon, and very special people in his life, Becky Barbee and Jason Davis. His principal “godfather” is Michael Eugene Carbone. There are too many friends to enumerate. As his father I will close with a quote from Robert Frost:” The old dog barks backwards without getting up. I can remember when he was a pup”. It was a life cut far too short and no parent should bury his child, it’s just not the natural order of things. From his parents to all, excerpts from a “A Child Asleep”: “Speak not! he is consecrated---Breathe no breath across his eyes. Lifted up and separated, on the hand of God he lies, In a sweetness beyond touching--- held in cloistral sanctities. Could ye bless him--- father--- mother? Bless the dimple in his cheek? Dare ye look at one another, and the benediction speak? Would ye not break out in weeping, and confess yourselves too weak?... Dare not bless him! but be blessed by his peace--- and go in peace.” In honor of our beloved son Mitchell, from Elizabeth Barrett Browning. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be given to a YouCaring account, www.youcaring.com/mitchkatrinasson-739732, for the college education of their unborn son. The family invites you to leave a message or memory on our "Tribute Wall" at www.WHBfamily.com