The family of Richard “Dick” Donaldson announces a memorial service and reception to be held to celebrate Dick’s life on Saturday, June 25, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. at the United Methodist Church in Tracy, MN. The memorial service will be followed by a short reception at the church and interment in the Tracy Community Cemetery. Finally, memories and stories will be shared at The Caboose restaurant, located at 1045 Craig Ave (Hwy 14) in Tracy, beginning at 5:00 PM.
Richard Lauren Donaldson, 98, died on March 1, 2022, at the Sanford Medical Center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Dick was born on the family farm in Springdale Township in Redwood County, MN, a few miles northeast of Tracy on March 6, 1923. He died less than a week short of his 99th birthday, having lived all of his life in Tracy, except for his attendance and graduation from Carleton College in Northfield, MN from 1941 to 1948 and his service to his country in the Army Air Corps during WWII, from 1943 to 1945, and his service in the Peace Corps from 1984 to 1988.
Dick is preceded in death by parents Dale Moses Donaldson and Mayme Phillips Donaldson, wife Mary Kangas Donaldson, and sisters Marge Lorraine Snow of Kalamazoo, MI, and Marian Elaine Johnson of Northfield, MN (formerly of Tracy). Dick is survived by sister Phyllis Donaldson Brothers of Durham, NC, children Mark (Pat) Donaldson of Knoxville, TN, Laurel Ulland (David McDonald) of Minneapolis, MN, Scott (Mary) Donaldson of Cincinnati, OH and granddaughter, Lindsay (Leighton) Wiggins of Denton, TX, as well as many nieces and nephews, Tracy AFS foreign exchange student Pyatat Tatsanivivat of Khon Kaen, Thailand, and longtime companion Phyllis Borer of Tracy, MN.
A chronicle of Dick’s long and full life of personal, business, and civic achievement can be found in the Wednesday, March 9, 2022, edition of the Tracy Headlight Herald. The family will also provide a complete obituary of Dick’s life at the memorial service on June 25th.
In lieu of flowers or memorials, the family asks interested folks to contribute to the Tracy High School Bulldog Scholarship Fund, the Tracy Public Library, or the Wheels Across the Prairie Museum in Tracy, MN, or a charity of their choice, or to volunteer for a local charity or non-profit organization that serves those in need.