Donald Phillip McNally - a life to be admired

My heart is heavy today as I've received news that my Grand-Uncle Don has passed away. He was one of seven brothers: Ernest, Edward, Owen, Donald, Charlie, George (my grandpa), and William. Today, the majority has shifted as now there are less living brothers than deceased and I feel a little as though another piece of our history is lost.

My Uncle Don was 86 years old and was married to his love, my sweet and kind Aunt Marion, for 67 years. He served in the army and worked multiple jobs at the same time in his younger days to support his family. His jobs were very physically intense...not the go to work and sit at a desk type jobs. He pushed heavy coal buckets at the gas company and was a meticulous landscaper. He was a Brother, Husband, Brother -in-law, Father, Grandfather, Great Grandfather, Uncle, Grand-Uncle, and friend to many, I'm sure. He loved sports especially baseball and football. My Grandma just told me this morning that their father bought a house and the lot next door so that the brothers would have plenty of room to play outside without being in the street. It was there that they all played sports together. He endured great joys in his life not the least of which include being a father to three (twin boys and a girl) seeing his own family multiply to generations even making him a Great-Grandfather. He also endured sorrow, loosing his daughter, Louis, and three brothers before him. He's lived in many different places and seen so much of the world including war, depression, and the sorts of economic struggle that our generation really can't comprehend. He was committed, determined, and in the most loving of ways even called stubborn from time to time.

I'm just a Grand-niece in a huge family tree but to me Uncle Don was dear. He made time for me. He always made time for family. Really, that is the legacy the 7 brothers have and will leave for the younger generations...FAMILY IS IMPORTANT. I remember at a young age being in the pool with the Grand-Uncles at someone's wedding. They were so much fun throwing my brother and I around. A few years ago he and Aunt Marion made a very long trip from New York to attend my wedding. They even danced and won a little contest for who had been married the longest. Also, he would hand write me letters several times a year in perfect penmanship (a result of Catholic school but still impressive for a man in his 80's). The most notable of these letters came to me after my own Grandpa, his brother passed away. I still have it tucked in my bible as it offered such comfort to me in my own time of mourning. He was relating my sadness to his own loss, his only daughter. In his words from the note (dated 6/20/2000) he says "The Pastor there in Fairport, N.Y. said to me that time would make her death more bearable. It did but 17 years this 7-25 and I still shed tears. You too will be able to just remember the good times you had with your grandpa and smile at them. This is what he would want."

Today, I am shedding tears but I am confident that Uncle Don too would want me and our family to remember the good times and smile at them. And I will...we all will. How could we not? Donald Phillip McNally lived a life to be admired. Rest in Peace Uncle Don and tell my Grandpa I love him still and on the sound advice of a wise man I also loved, I remember the good times, and smile at them.


(click pictures for larger view)

First picture: The 7 brothers (l to r) Bill, George (my grandpa) Charlie, Don, Ed, Owen, Ernie
Second picture: The 7 brothers
Third picture: Uncle Don, so handsome
Fourth picture: Christmas with his family. So sweet
Fifth and sixth picture: My wedding, winning the anniversary dance for 64 years(at that time) of marriage.