Thomas McDonald, longtime employee at Boston Herald
Thomas F. McDonald, a Boston Herald employee for 43 years, died of lung cancer Monday at his home in Quincy. He was 71.
Mr. McDonald, a lifelong Boston area resident, was head cashier at the Herald when he retired in 2006.
“He was just a quiet guy, doing his job,’’ said his wife of 37 years, Karen (Nelson) McDonald. “He was always very well-liked.’’
“He never missed a day,’’ said Karen Parsons, a 30-year friend and co-worker. “He never would’ve left if he didn’t get sick.’’
Mr. McDonald grew up in Hyde Park, attending Boston Latin and graduating from Hyde Park High School in 1955.
He attended Boston State Teachers College for two years before enlisting in the Navy.
“He was on the USS Cascade,’’ his wife said.
Mr. McDonald spent two years on the Mediterranean Sea, porting in such cities as Athens; Cannes, France; and Barcelona.
After his return in 1963 to Boston, he got a job with the Record American, which became the Herald in 1972. He began as a payroll clerk and led the circulation accounting department.
In 1966, he met Karen Nelson, who worked in the newspaper’s advertising department. The two wed in 1972 at the Union Congregational Church in Quincy’s Wollaston neighborhood, where they moved three years later.
The McDonalds had two daughters, Kathleen and Julie, in 1975 and 1977.
“He was just so supportive of us following our dreams,’’ said Kathleen McDonald Roglan of Dallas. “He was always teaching us and helping us throughout our lives.’’
Her sister, Julie McDonald Ritter, works as a school guidance counselor in Dickerson, Md.
Mr. McDonald became the head cashier, collecting and handing out money to reporters and drivers, which he did until his retirement.
Every summer, Mr. McDonald would travel to his family’s cottage on New Silver Beach in North Falmouth, his wife said.
“His parents bought the house when he was born,’’ she said. “From the minute school got out to when it started in September, we were down there.’’
Mr. McDonald loved sports, often watching the Red Sox, Patriots, and horse racing on television.
In addition to his wife and two children, Mr. McDonald leaves a granddaughter.
A funeral Mass will be said at 10 a.m. today at the Sacred Heard Church in North Quincy. Burial will be in the Mount Wollaston Cemetery in Quincy.
