Donald Angus MacKay (1911 - 1977)

Born 5 Jan 1911 in Port Arthur, Ont

Ancestors

Husband of Harriet Edith McKay — married 31 Aug 1943 in Port Arthur, Ontario

Descendants

Died 17 Jan 1977 at age 66 in Toronto, ON, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: G. MacKay [send private message]

Biography

(Ahnentafel GM-5ii)

Birth

Birth of Donald Angus McKay^[1]

Birth date: January 5, 1912

Place: 24 Secord St., Port Arthur, Ontario

Father: Daniel Stuart McKay, Marine Engineer

Mother: Minnie Jerrett

Marriage: November 19, 1908, Port Arthur, Ontario

Physician: Dr. J. I. Pratt

Marriage

Marriage between Harriet Edith MacKay and Donald Mckay^[2]

Census Data

1921 Canadian Census - 876 Detroit Avenue, Port Arthur, Ontario^[3]

Daniel S. McKay - 38 (1883) b. Scotland; Parents b. Scotland; Immigrated 1890; o. Stationary Engineer; Earnings: $1450

Minnie McKay - 31 (1890) b. Newfoundland; Parents b. Newfoundland; Immigrated 1903

Stewart McKay - 12 (1909) b. Ontario

Donald McKay - 9 (1912) b. Ontario

Annie McKay - 7 (1914) b. Ontario

Patricia McKay - 5 (1916) b. Ontario

Douglas McKay - 3 (1918) b. Ontario

Marion McKay - 1 (1920) b. Ontario

1931 Canada Census - 876 Detroit Avenue, Port Arthur, Ontario, Canada (owned house value $3000, 7 rooms, has radio, Presbyterian)^[4]

Donald McKay (head) - 53 (1878) b. Scotland; parents b. Scotland; Immigration year: 1886; o. Stationary Engineer, Power House earning $2100/yr

Marian McKay (wife) - 42 (1889) b. Newfoundland; parents b. Newfoundland; Immigration year: 1903

Stewart McKay (son) - 22 (1909) b. Ontario; o. Grain sampler earning $700/yr (unemployed 32 weeks 32 weeks)

Donald McKay (son) - 19 (1912) b. Ontario; o. Construction labourer $600/yr (unemployed)

Annie McKay (daughter) - 17 (1914) b. Ontario

Patricia McKay (daughter) - 15 (1916) b. Ontario

Douglas McKay (son) - 13 (1918) b. Ontario

Marian McKay (daughter) - 11 (1920) b. Ontario

Occupation

Don worked for the McLennan Lumber Company, owned by the parents of Keith McLennan, (Pat's husband). Eventually, he would move on and start up his own forest product company, better known as "Don A. McKay Forest Products". While he made a lot of money on the business he neglected to pay taxes, and subsequent to an government audit he was forced into bankruptcy.

Occupation:

Date: 1953 - 1977

Place: Ontario Trade Comission, Ontario

Occupation:

Date: ABT 1948 - DEC 1952

Place: Don A. MacKay Forest Products

Notes

Fortunately for him he had been a loyal supporter and bagman for the Liberal Party, and his close friend C. D. Howe the long serving MP for Port Arthur and powerful cabinet minister. When things turned sour for Don, C.D. Howe arranged to get him a job in Toronto with the Ontario Trade Commission sometime between 1952 and '53. He remained there until his death in 1977. (Danford R. MacKay)

An interesting occurence-Don was requested to stay on beyond the "mandatory" government retirement age to train a successor-his job required a lot of overseas travel on trade missions etc. He didn't really want to retire at sixty- six.On his last day on the job he went to his family physician after work and was declared "fit as a fiddle" He, usually after supper, went home to lay down to read the news papers. When Harriet checked an hour or so later he had passed away...

"He had terrible arthritis in his feet. He went to Toronto General every month to have injections with gold and it relieved his symptoms."

"He died the day he retired." - (Danford R. MacKay)

From a transcript of a recorded conversation from August 2005, between brother and sister, Anne Hardy, and Danford MacKay.

GRAEME M – Some of [your brothers] went off to war. Which ones went off to war?

ANNE H – Doug. Doug and Don.

DANFORD M -- Doug and Don were in the Air Force. Don stayed here. He was what they called managed depot where they supplied. Not the ammunition but everything else – rations, uniforms, everything else. And he was in Winnipeg.

ANNE H – He was down on the east coast, too. He started out in Winnipeg, I guess.

DANFORD M – He had worked in Zellers. So he had background…

ANNE H – In services.

DANFORD M – And Doug was -- Doug got to be a flight Lieutenant. Much to Don’s -- and Don got to become a Sergeant, but Don was put out about that, I think all his life, but Doug his young brother got to become a flight lieutenant.

ANNE H – Well he was in the planes.

DANFORD M – He was a pilot overseas

GRAEME M – Where was he – where was his job during the second world war, where did he fight?

ANNE H – He was a pilot. He went over Germany, but he wasn’t a fighter, it was transporting food and people from one place to another where it was safe, I guess.

DANFORD M – I don’t know if I agree with that about – it was a hell of a lot safer then bombing cities.

GRAEME M – He wasn’t bombing cities then – over Germany.

DANFORD M – A lot of his flights seem to be to Brussels. And he used to be really good. He was really good to me as a little kid. He’d take me in his fancy car. He’d have the fanciest car in the two cities. He was a flashy guy. But he’d sit me in the car on his knee and drive with me, pretending I was driving. And Don did that too. But I was a little tiny guy.

Death

Death Notice

Suddenly at his residence, on Monday, January 17, 1977, Donald Angus MacKay, beloved husband of Harriet Edith McKay, dear father of Donna (Mrs. Derek Shanks) of Toronto and Donald Jr. of Campbellton, N.B., loved son of Mrs. D. S. MacKay of Thunder Bay. In his 66th year. Cremation. Memorial service in the chapel, St. James Crematorium, 636 Parliament St. on Thursday, January 20, 1977 at 3 p.m. In lieu of flowers donations to the Ontario Heart Fund would be appreciated. Source - Toronto Star, Jan 19, 1977.

Burial

Burial: A Donald MacKay has a marker at Toronto Necropolis & Crematorium with a stone ref# P-126/134

Date: 20 JAN 1977

Newspaper Clippings

McKay, Donald Angus to Harriet MacKay marriage announcement for August 31, 1943, published on September 1, 1943, pg. 5, Port Arthur News-Chronicle^[5]

External Links

YouTube Clip - Wedding reception of Sandra Ashenhurst and Danford MacKay, Toronto, Ontario, Sept 28, 1962. With appearances by June and Howard Boland, Lois and Jim Piper, Jon Thrower, Don MacKay, Doug MacKay, Miriam McKay and Lois Ashenhurst.

Sources

• WikiTree profile MacKay-277 created through the import of Danford MacKay Family(2).ged on Feb 3, 2012 by Graeme MacKay. See the Changes page for the details of edits by Graeme and others.

• Source: S-2071054617 Repository: #R-2072183170 Title: Ontario, Canada Marriages, 1801-1926 Author: Ancestry.com and Genealogical Research Library (Brampton, Ontario, Canada) Publication: Online publication - Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2010.Original data - Ontario, Canada. Registrations of Marriages, 1869-1926. MS932, Reels 1-793. Archives of Ontario, Toronto.Ontario, Canada. Marriage License Books, 1907-1910. MS945, Ree Note: APID: 1,7921::0

1. ↑ Archives of Ontario. Registrations of Births and Stillbirths – 1869-1913. MS 929, reels 1-245 (230). Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Archives of Ontario.
2. ↑ Index of News, Photos and Social Notices as published in The Port Arthur News-Chronicle 1943 - 1951; 1 Sep 1943 p.5
3. ↑ 1921 Census, Enumeration district 26, Page 18, Digital number 19 of 21 of Sub-District 26 (Third Ward) Link
4. ↑ Library and Archives Canada; Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; Seventh Census of Canada, 1931; Folder Number: T-27290; Census Place: Port Arthur (045), Ontario, Canada; Page Number: 29
5. ↑ Index of News, Photos and Social Notices as published in The Port Arthur News-Chronicle 1943 - 1951