Leota Mae Fischer McDonald was born January 4,1929 in a small house in Beaumont, Texas.  She was actually delivered by her grandmother who was a midwife.  Sometime later, the family moved to Ward's ranch in the Hampshire area west of Beaumont where her family pursued farming.

Even though her early years were challenging times for America, she would say that her family was mostly self-sufficient and they always had plenty to eat.  She was always glad to get a new dress made by her mother from a flour sack! She shared with us so many stories of her youth, such as her family keeping World War II German POWs on their farm. She recounted that the German POWs loved to work on their farm because her dad could speak German, and her mom would feed them well!

Faith was a big part of Leota's life.  She met George McDonald, her husband of 62 years and the love of her life, at a Baptist encampment in Palacios, Texas. They were soon married and moved to Austin.  Leota used to laugh as she recalled that they rode on the back of a flatbed pick-up truck to get there!  In Austin, they managed without a vehicle while George continued his education and Leota worked as a secretary at the Capitol.  George finished college, worked briefly in the oil industry, and then finally took a job with the Texas Highway Department in Bay City.

They joined the First Baptist Church in 1955.  Leota was a faithful stay at home wife and mother raising four boys and teaching Sunday school for 40 years.  Leota loved God, family, flowers, butterflies, birds, and life itself.

She worked at First Baptist CDC for 20 years until age 70.  She loved the children she cared for and imparted much into their lives.  She loved time spent with family.  Many Christmas gatherings in their small home were filled with family, food, games, and a floor covered with presents for everyone around a perfectly and precisely decorated tree with beautiful clear glass ornaments.

She and George loved traveling and would get in the car and just head east or west until they figured out where they were going.  George passed in 2010.  Leota moved to Burleson in 2020 to be with family.  In her latter years, she kept up with technology very well!  She enjoyed playing games on her IPad, reading books on her Kindle, and keeping up with family and friends through Facebook.  She even took a cruise with family at the age of 83!

Leota passed on September 28, 2025 at the age of 96.  She is preceded in death by her parents; two brothers, Robert Fischer and Orval Fischer, and her sister, Mildred Stagg.  She is survived by her four sons and their wives, Wayne and Nancy McDonald of Burleson, Glenn and Carol McDonald of Houston, Keith and Alice McDonald of Vidor, and Jon and Rebecca McDonald of Bay City, seven grandchildren, and numerous great grandchildren.

A Celebration of Leota's life will be held at First Baptist Church of Bay City on Saturday, October 11 at 10:00 AM.  Burial will follow at Roselawn Memorial Park in Van Vleck.

Visitation will be at 9:00 AM at First Baptist Church preceding the Celebration service.

Leota loved flowers!  So sending flowers would be very appropriate.