Dalton McDonald JR.

Longtime La Plata County resident Dalton Ray McDonald Jr., died Thursday, May 19, 2011, at his home in Gem Village. He was 90.

Known as “Ray,” he was born Jan. 15, 1921, to Olga Christensen and Dalton McDonald Sr. in Ohio City, which is in Gunnison County. His mother came to the U.S. from Denmark as a young girl.

“Ray’s grandfather and father were miners, and his early years were spent exploring the hills, hunting, trapping and riding the occasional wild donkey,” his family said, “experiences that prepared him for a life connected to the outdoors, adventure and hard work. He grew up in Ohio City with his brother Don and sister Eleanor, aunts, uncles and cousins including Alice Tarkington, a second cousin of the writer Booth Tarkington.”

At 19, Mr. McDonald moved to Silver Peak, Nev., where he spent a year in the silver mines. His family said he talked of mucking 40 tons of rock out of a 1,700-foot shaft each day.

Mr. McDonald graduated from high school in Cedaredge, where he met his future wife, Melba Laverne Ives. The couple married on July 3, 1942, in Cedaredge.

Soon after, Mr. McDonald joined the Army Corps of Engineers and spent his World War II years in the South Pacific, building airfields in New Guinea and the Philippines.

Upon his return to the U.S., Mr. McDonald began a career with the Colorado Division of Wildlife that lasted more than 30 years. He managed fish hatcheries in Monte Vista, Durango and Gunnison.

The McDonalds retired to Gem Village in 1983. After Mrs. McDonald’s death in July 1998, Mr. McDonald met Patricia Reed. They married in February 1999 in Laughlin, Nev.

His family remembers Mr. McDonald as “an animal lover, as someone who could fix almost anything that was broken and as a master gardener far ahead of his time in understanding conservation, recycling and taking care of the Earth.” He was hard at work in his garden through his late 80s.

Mr. McDonald was preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, Melba Laverne Ives McDonald.

He is survived by his wife of 12 years, Pat McDonald, of Gem Village; sister, Eleanor Williams, of Cedaredge; children Mike McDonald of Albuquerque, Robyn Schoenfeld of Pahrump, Nev., and Kimla Kelly of Washington, D.C.; stepchildren Faron Reed of Richfield, Utah, and Marjory Powers of Lubbock, Texas; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

After cremation, a private celebration of life will be held later this summer.

Memorial contributions may be sent to La Plata County Open Space Conservancy, P.O. Box 1651, Durango, CO 81302.