Thomas Owen McDonald Jr., 93, of Mooresville, N.C., passed away on Saturday, April 13, 2024, at Novant Health Huntersville Medical Center.

He was born on September 4, 1930, in Missouri to the late Thomas and Irene Walsh McDonald. Mr. McDonald graduated from High School in Raymond, Miss. He was a U.S. Army veteran, serving from 1951 to 1953 as a corporal. He then owned a sheet metal company in Missouri, and was a foreman at Bozeman Farms in Flora, Miss. After getting married, Mr. McDonald, his wife and children lived in Texas and he was a mechanical engineer at Ivy Mechanical, from where he went to San Diego, Calif., to build Scripps Green Hospital at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, Calif. He ended his career at Northstar Propeller as a private contractor with the U.S. Navy and NOAA. At the age of 76, he retired and spent the remainder of his life as a husband, father, and loving grandfather.

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by a brother-in-law, Butch.

He is survived by his wife, Judy Alkire McDonald; children, Frankie McDonald, Mark McDonald (Catherine), and Marti McDonald (Steve); grandchildren, David, Delaney, Tommy, and Joey.

A Celebration of Life service will be held at 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 18, at the Chapel of Cavin-Cook Funeral Home with Chaplain Russell Files officiating.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to DAV – Disabled American Veterans, P.O. Box 14301, Cincinnati, OH 45250-0301 or at www.dav.org/.

Cavin-Cook Funeral Home & Crematory, Mooresville, is serving the McDonald family. Condolences may be made to the family at www.cavin-cook.com.