Carol Jean (Jacobsen Ripley) McDonald

Beloved Wife, Mother, and  "Nani", Carol Jean McDonald, who lived and worked alongside her soulmate husband (dad) and love of her life,  passed away peacefully November 27th, after a long battle with complications from rheumatoid arthritis.  She passed in the company of her family at their ranch and was one month shy of 90.

Our "Christmas Carol" was born December 25th to Albert Eugene Jacobsen and Lillian Isabel Juhlin in Salt Lake City in 1931.  Even as a little girl, her exuberant, fun loving personality won her a spot on the "Major Bowes Amateur Hour" to dance with Shirley Temple.  However, she developed whooping cough and had to forfeit to the actress we know as "Josephine the Plummer" (Jane Withers).    That didn't stop her from dancing and entertaining when her father would show off his darling daughter who loved to make others happy.

Love was a main theme of her existence in every way and this was reflected in the physical beauty that she kept up to the very end. "Let's be happy!" and "It's all about family," were mantras with her. Even her Christmas birth date reflects the gift that she was to others and to this world, bringing her own kind of bubbly cheerfulness and undeviating optimism as a gift to the world. The words on the tombstone of her daughter Marji, who died in an airplane crash in 1978 are the same we could easily put on our mother Carol's tombstone: "Our Sunshine".  She was that to all of us and especially to her beloved husband and eternal companion, whom she called "Dickie" most the time and "Richard" when she gently corrected him, or when he was teasing her.   She fell for dad junior year at East High School in Salt Lake City listening to him play the piano during lunch hour and staring at the back of his head in U. S. History, finally asking him to Sadie Hawkins and the rest is a sort of Romeo and Juliet story with a happy ending. Despite being married for 70 years, anyone who would swear they were newlyweds❤️

During the following years, mom and dad raised five daughters in Logan, Utah where she was a devoted stay at home mom.    In 1969, the family moved to Flagstaff, Arizona where they resided for 4 years and then on the Mesa, Arizona where mom earned her Real Estate license and with her extroverted and sincere personality, became a Million Dollar Seller for Tom Fannin Realty.

In 1990, dad, brought her to the Black Hills (where he has abundant ancestral and family history) and bought a business and property and since then she supported her man in turning those few purchases into 4 successful downtown Keystone buildings that they rent to businesses and a 50 acre ranch with three restored Bed and Breakfast rental cabins known as McDonald Mountain Ranch.  Mom was always the perfect help mate in whatever our dad chose to do. She believed and trusted in him with all her heart and was a wonderful example to all of her family and friends of true unconditional love.

Her glass was always half full, she had empathy, forgiveness, and cheerfulness to spare. She was an active, life long member in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and to her last moments would pray often for us, speaking to Heavenly Father as a deep personal friend.

She is survived by her husband, Richard McDonald, and four daughters: Jini Hyde, Linda Hite, Marianne (Norm) Smith, and Barbi (Craig) McLaws as well as 15 grandchildren and 31 great-grandchildren.  We love you mom and will miss you with all our hearts but know we will be together for eternity❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Love,

Your Daughters,

Jini,Linda, (Marji), Marianne and Barbi