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| William D. "Bill" McDonald | |
| February 06, 1947 - October 18, 2008 | |
| Moline, Illinois
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| Mass of Christian Burial: 10:00 a.m. Saturday, October 25, 2008 at Christ The King Catholic Church, 3209 60th Street, Moline, Ill. | |
| Interment: Saturday, October 25, 2008 at Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island, Ill. | |
| William D. “Bill” McDonald, 61, of Moline and Orlando, FL, died Saturday, October 18, 2008 at Florida South Hospital, Orlando.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday at Christ The King Catholic Church, Moline. Burial is in Calvary Cemetery, Rock Island. There is no visitation. Wheelan-Pressly Funeral Home, Rock Island, is assisting the family. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the International Myeloma Foundation.
Bill was born on February 6, 1947 in Rock Island, the son of William H. and Irma Goodrum McDonald. He married Judith V. Blix on July 26, 1980 in Moline.
He graduated from Alleman High School in 1965 and later received both a B.S. and an M.S. degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Illinois.
After his graduation, Bill started out as a Civil Engineer in the Hydraulics and Hydrology Branch, Engineering Division with the US Army Corps of Engineers, Rock Island District and quickly moved into a position as a coordinator between engineering and computer science. He assisted the COE’s computer section in developing innovative software for engineering applications, when this field of engineering was in its infancy. In 1978, Bill left the COE and accepted a similar position with Indeco, Inc., of Bettendorf, an engineering subsidiary in the design-construction field of a heavy construction and highway contractor, Johnson Bros. Corporation of MN. Bill was promoted to Vice-President of Indeco in 1982 and formally became Indeco’s IT Coordinator (the position as we know it today) along with administration duties of VP and always overseeing Indeco’s hydraulics engineering.
In 2003, Bill became a full-time employee of the Johnson Bros. Corporation serving in their New Orleans and eventually Orlando offices. His position with JBC was along the same lines as with COE and Indeco, except his main focus was on the applications of his abilities in construction engineering and computer estimating applications. He served as an on-site Project Engineer as well as taking full responsibility of JBC’s IT requirements. Later he was promoted to Vice-President of JBC and not only performed engineering support to JBC, but also was their key person in IT applications of construction bidding and contract performance applications.
Bill enjoyed supporting the University of Illinois football and basketball teams. He participated in car rallies, read science fiction, toured gardens all over the country and played with his beloved dog, Mosby’s Ranger. He was also an ardent supporter of the arts. The ghost writer behind many technological solutions credited to his wife over the years, he joked that “off line” should be carved on his tombstone.
Bill was a member of Christ The King Catholic Church, Moline and Holy Family Catholic Church, Orlando. He especially enjoyed being a lector at Christ The King for many years.
He is survived by and will be dearly missed by his wife, Judy; his son, Sean and daughter-in-law, Kristin, Naperville, IL; grandson, Aidan, Naperville; his brother, Bob and sister-in-law, Dorothy, Strongsville, OH.
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