Linda M. MacDonald

Linda Marie MacDonald (Fredie), 68, of Alexandria, VA, died peacefully at home on September 18, 2021, after a 6 ½ year fight with pancreatic cancer. She was preceded in death by her beloved parents Harold and Annabelle, and her brother Tim. She is survived by her husband of 38 years, Paul MacDonald, her daughter Maeghen (& Jeffry), son Charles and granddaughters Elle and Briar. Linda was born December 26, 1952 to the late Harold and Annabelle Fredrick and grew up the only daughter with four brothers, three older and one younger. Born and raised in the Mount Vernon neighborhood of south Alexandria, she attended Mount Vernon High School. In her high school years she was active as a majorette with the Lorton Volunteer Firemen’s Band. She also worked in the gift shop at George Washington’s Mount Vernon. Linda’s family members were familiar faces at Mount Vernon as her Grandfather was a grounds keeper, her father Harold was the Grounds Keeper’s Foreman and worked security in his older years. Her cousin Jimmy was the Fire Captain for the Estate’s fire station and lived on the estate with his family for many years. After High School, Linda went onto to pursuing her career as a nurse. She developed the passion for nursing as she was the care giver for her grandmother and grandfather along with the many pets she always had growing up. She graduated from Northern Virginia Community College with an Associate Degree in Nursing in 1974. Linda spent most of her nursing career at the INOVA Mount Vernon Hospital working in the Emergency Room. It was there that she was given the nick name Fredie and there were multiple Linda’s on staff. During her time at the hospital, in addition to serving on 12 hour shifts, she volunteered as a Community Health Services Nurse on her off days doing free blood pressure screenings. She retired from Nursing in 1999 to be a full time Mom to her 14 year old daughter and 11 year old son. In addition to her volunteer work at the hospital, Linda served as the Cookie Mom for her daughter’s Brownie and Girl Scout Troop. Half of the family’s home garage served as the cookie depot. Linda also volunteered as a chaperone for her kids out of town school trips. Her days were filled with busy schedules getting the kids to soccer, cotillion, gymnastics, basketball, baseball, softball, scouts, field hockey and lacrosse. Not to mention always having a hearty meal on the table at dinner time where Paul, Linda and the kids always ate as a family. Linda and the family loved camping and traveling. They started out as tent campers going to Frontier Town in Ocean City and other nearby Campgrounds. In the summer of 1996 Linda and the family rented a Class B Motorhome and she never slept in a tent after that. They toured the Badlands, Yellowstone and the Tetons. The family had such a great time on that trip they bought a Class A motor home and did annual cross-country trips. As the kids grew older and moved out after college Linda and Paul took several trips including a motorhome trip to Nova Scotia and New England. Lake Anna’s Christopher Run Campground was one of her favorite places to take the motorhome and camp with family friends. Linda loved traveling and eventually overcame her fear of flying. Linda and Paul traveled to Alaska via air and did a cruise back to Vancouver. In 2018, the two of them did a two-week tour of Ireland and Scotland which she truly enjoyed and talked of going back. The simplest pleasures in life brought her great joy. She enjoyed spending time with family, friends and especially the grandchildren. She loved flowers and had her own garden plots around the house. She appreciated beautiful music, especially old time country. She was an avid reader and faithful watcher of reality paranormal TV shows. Linda loved to sew and cross stitch. She made many items that still hang in the family home today and in her granddaughters’ rooms. She loved making fleece knotted blankets for any family member that would want one. Her other sewing passion was making flags for hanging off the porch. She had one for every season and holiday. She made the School of Smiles banner that hangs in the Woodley Hills Elementary School Lobby. She loved to bake, with zucchini breads being her favorite. She was always experimenting with the different flavors from dark rich chocolate to French vanilla. She made one heck of a good meat loaf and a pan of lasagna. Linda was kind and compassionate, caring deeply for others. She was a very spiritual person with a strong belief in God and Jesus. She was a loyal and trusted confidante to her friends and maintained those friendships with phone calls, text messages and cards. She was a loyal Washington Sports fan cheering on the Redskins, Capitals and Nationals. She knew the starting lineups for each team by name and position. She loved to talk smack to her son-in-law and brother-in-law when one of the Washington Teams was taking on one of their hometown favorites. In addition to her family and friends, Linda deeply cared for and loved her many pets. The family home always had cats and dogs present. The kids had hamsters, lizards, frogs, and a chinchilla to name a few. One of her many joys and past times was caring for the family horses, Logan, Ranger and Bodie. Logan was her daughter’s thoroughbred. Maeghen started riding at an early age and rode up through high school and her college years. Linda also rode and cared for Logan. Logan and Ranger have since passed in their senior years. As recently as back in June, Linda could be seen trail riding Bodie. The family will be keeping Bodie as a tribute to Linda. The nurse in Linda always came out with regards to the pets and Bodie with the amount of love and attention she gave. Linda was deeply grateful for the number of friends and family members who provided so much love and support during the last years of her life. In 2015, Linda was diagnosed with stage 2 Pancreatic cancer. The family was devastated. Upon diagnosis she immediately underwent surgery to have her pancreas and associated tumor removed. Her initial goal was to be able to make it to her daughter’s wedding. That day came along with many more years and two grandchildren. Her Oncologist told her weeks before her passing that in all his years of practice and those of his associates there has only been one Linda MacDonald. She beat the odds in her fight to live many times over. The amount of love that she received is the clearest testament to the life she lived. For those wishing to make a memorial contribution in Linda's name, donations can be made to the Pancreatic Cancer Network (PANCAN) at www.pancan.org

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Linda M. MacDonald

December 26, 1952 - September 18, 2021