Frederick McDonald, former head of Iolani, dead at 93
By Curtis Lum
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Rev. Canon Frederick McDonald, former headmaster of Iolani School and chaplain for Gen. Omar Bradley, died March 9 in San Francisco. He was 93.
McDonald was born in Seattle, Wash., in 1908 and graduated from the University of Washington. He attended the General Theological Seminary in New York and was ordained as an Episcopal minister in 1934.
The Rev. Canon Frederick McDonald was chaplain for Gen. Omar Bradley.
During World War II, McDonald served as a senior Army chaplain of Special Troops, 12th Army Group, which was commanded by Bradley. When the war ended in Europe on May 8, 1945, Bradley chose McDonald to conduct a service, which was later quoted by Bradley in his memoirs "A Soldier's Story."
McDonald also collected shards of glass from stained-glass windows at churches and synagogues that were damaged in the war. The broken glass is being used in a stained-glass window project by artist Arnelle LaRoux at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio in San Francisco.
In 1949, McDonald became the rector of St. Clement's Parish in Honolulu. From 1954 to 1959, he was the headmaster at Iolani School.
McDonald left Honolulu and returned to Europe where he developed a program that ministered to Episcopalians in the armed forces. In 1978, he returned to San Francisco and was a chaplain assistant at St. Luke's Church.
In 1991, McDonald made his last major trip: a journey to the North Pole on a Russian ice-breaker, where he celebrated the first-ever Eucharist there.
McDonald is survived by his sister, Elizabeth Parsons; and nieces and nephews.
Mainland services will be held. Donations can be made to the McDonald Window Project, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, P.O. Box 29055 San Francisco, CA 94129.
