Victor Lee McDonald was born February 3rd, 1949 to Lysle and Faye McDonald in Southern California. He had 4 brothers: Bob, Mack, Paul and Dale. Bob and Mack passed away in the last few years, but Paul and Dale are still with us and living in Southern California. My wife, Lyndsey, myself and our son Lyle live in the Portland, Maine area and we’d love to grab a coffee with you if you’re ever in town. Lyndsey is pregnant, and we’re expecting a baby girl in the Spring.

Victor had been married twice, once to Kristen (if anybody has any ideas on how I can find her, please let me know) and my Mom, Roberta. Vic and my Mom were married until I was about 5, and when they split up, I went to live with my Dad while my half sisters (I like to round up <3), Kristen and Erin stayed with my Mom. My Dad was in his early 40s with a 5ish year old son, and now that Lyndsey and I have a son, I have more respect than ever for single parents of young children. Of course, we all know my Dad was smart and would think through this. For starters, he was a singlish parent – my mom did an amazing job of co-parenting with my dad with weekend visits and lots of long adventurous trips that would give him what I imagine was a much needed break from parenting. My dad was also obsessed with family, particularly seeing his brothers and my Grandma Faye and Great Grandma Hobbs in Southern California. We would make multiple trips a year to see my uncles and cousins where I can see now that he leaned on them for help (thanks, Aunt Susan!). 

Vic’s Dad, Lysle, was a tail gunner on a B-52 in WWII, and I’m told he lived through over 8 deployments in combat zones (all indications are that it was rare to make it through more than a couple), and now that I think about my Dad’s name “Victor Lee”, my guess is that they chose it because it sounds like “Victory.” My Grandma Faye won her own war by raising 5 boys (there are tales of them shooting each other with bb guns). Grandma Faye and her mom, Grandma Hobbs, were the greatest. We’d go down there, and Grandma Faye would shower me with her special brand of love, and Grandma Hobbs would tell stories about coming across the country from the Oklahoma Territory (not yet a state!). My Dad and now all of us who succeed him were lucky to come from such strong, loving and very fortunate stock.

Dad, so many folks love you and we will all miss you.

P.S. We’ve got very big plans for this tribute website (think opportunity to learn from and hang with Vic, maybe setting up a foundation?). Of course, you’ll be able to opt out, but in the near future we’ll be updating this regularly as we get more content together (photos etc.), and I’m really hoping we can make it interactive so please be prepared to post little stories, photos or sayings you remember from him. I don’t know about you, but my phone has stopped buzzing significantly since Vic’s passing, so I like to think this will fill the void for a bit. I’m a grieving son who’s finding a way to cope and have a little fun by writing about his Dad – thanks for indulging me a little.