Lester Francis McDonald

Lester McDonald of Livermore died Dec. 26. He was 81.

McDonald grew up in Oakland and graduated from Fremont High School. Soon after graduation he was drafted into the army. He married his high school sweetheart and they had three children, Judy, Cherie and Chris.

McDonald worked as an installer and pole climber for Pacific Telephone until 1967. He continued his career in communications at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) until his retirement in 1993.

After his divorce, McDonald met Barbara Angelotti and they married on Aug. 23, 1980. She also worked at Lawrence Livermore lab and was raising two children, Audra and Jennifer.

McDonald volunteered every week for more than 20 years at the Veterans Hospital in Livermore. He and his wife would play bingo, help with watercolor classes and coordinate picnics, parties and other activities. He also worked with the Veterans Golden Age Games, similar to the Olympics where he would take patients with various disabilities to participate and compete in games held throughout the country. He eventually qualified to participate in the games himself and won in the sport of Table Tennis.

McDonald loved to fish and to take his family camping. He was an accomplished water skier and would spend most of his summers on the lake. He loved his dogs, golf and football (especially his team the Raiders) and enjoyed travelling with his granddaughter’s softball team. At home, he loved to cook in his backyard-outdoor kitchen which he built himself.

McDonald is survived by his loving wife Barbara; children Judy (Brian) Hough of Benicia, Cherie (Ron) Combs of Valley Springs, Chris (Lauralea) McDonald of Salem Ore., Audra (Phillip) Ryder of Livermore and Jennifer Angelotti of Malin, Ore.; and grandchildren Travis, Ashley, Jessica, Trevor, Mackenzie, Tristan, DJ, Taylor, Jocelyn and Deirdre.

In celebration of his life, there will be a memorial service and remembrance on Jan. 27 at 1 p.m. at Callaghan Mortuary, 3833 East Ave., Livermore. A gravesite ceremony will follow at St. Michael’s cemetery, 3885 East Ave., Livermore.