George Hyde MacDonald, 95, an industrial and automotive parts dealer, died of natural causes July 1 at Mayflower Place Nursing Center in West Yarmouth. Born in Pictou, Nova Scotia, he was the youngest of seven children. The family moved to Boston when he was 8 years old, and he graduated from Watertown High School in 1932. He worked for the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co., selling automotive parts in Cambridge and then enlisted in the US Army, where he attended Officers Candidate School. During World War II, he served as a first lieutenant in the Pacific and the occupation of Japan. . Mr. MacDonald and his wife, Dorothy (Pouliot) of Newton, lived in Cambridge before moving to Needham to raise a family. In 1948, Mr. MacDonald and a friend, Ed Geiger, worked at the A.D. Geiger Co. as New England sales representatives, selling industrial and automotive parts for five years before taking over the company from Geiger’s father. After a successful sales career, they sold the business and retired in 1976. He was president of the Needham Golf Club and later joined the Wellesley Country Club. Mr. MacDonald was a member of the Middlesex Masonic Lodge in Framingham, the Shriners, and congregational churches where he lived. The MacDonalds retired to Dunedin, Fla., where they lived for more than 25 years. In addition to his wife of 63 years, he leaves two sons, Alan of Sanford, Maine, and Bruce of Framingham; and three grandchildren. A memorial service will be held for friends and family July 20 at Mayflower Place in West Yarmouth.
