NORVEL AUGUST

Norvel August Bud McDonald, 86, of Jefferson City, died Thursday, September 30, 2010, at Westphalia Hills.
He was born on June 25, 1924, in St. Louis, the son of the late Norvel Pierce and Elizabeth Frances Heisler McDonald. He was married on April 29, 1950, at St. Peter Catholic Church in Jefferson City to Louise Christine Renkemeyer who preceded him in death on May 19, 2004. Bud entered the army at age 19 and completed his boot camp training at Fort Polk, LA with additional training in Engineering and Parachute Jump School. He was deployed to Great Britain in advance of the D-Day invasion and parachuted into France with the 335th Infantry Regiment, 84th Infantry Division to begin the march on Remagen Bridge. He earned 5 Battle Stars for service in the European Theater, served at the front of the Battle of the Bulge and was instrumental in the liberation of concentration camps. He was honorably discharged after WWII, but was recalled for duty during the Korean Conflict as Headquarters Commandant of the 190th Field Artillery Group. He was commissioned as a 1st Lieutenant and served as an artillery instructor at Camp Polk. His total time of service was 9 years, 6 months, and 13 days. He was awarded the Infantry Badge, Good Conduct Medal, WWII Victory Medal, European Theatre of Operations Award, German Occupation Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, The Bronze Star and the Purple Heart. He was a great patriot and a member of the greatest generation.
In 2009, he was a member of the Honor Flight to Washington D.C. He is but one of the many WWII veterans lost each day. A farmer in the Honey Creek-Brazito community for over 60 years, Bud was a logger and heavy machinery operator in Alaska and Washington after WWII, Claims Adjuster with Missouri Farm Bureau, and was the Executive Manager and Lobbyist with the Missouri Limestone Producers Association. Bud was a member of St. Peter Catholic Church where he served on the parish council and a member of the Holy Name Society, was a 4th Degree Knight with the Knights of Columbus Council 1054, served on the Scholarship Committee with Missouri Conservation Federation, a member of Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity, Past President and member of Rotary International, served on the Board of Directors with the Helias High School Foundation Board, life member of American Legion Post 5, and was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post in Argyle, Mo.
Survivors include eight children, Dwight G. (Heydi) McDonald, Jefferson City; Kurt (Jerry) McDonald, Hollister, MO; Hans (Beverly) McDonald, Pretty Prairie, KS; Kris (Tim) Ballage, Jefferson City; Regina(Ross) Summers, Huntsville, MO; Denise(Mike) Grefrath, Jefferson City; Liz (Richard) Fadel, Des Peres, Mo; Liesel U. Farris (Kevin DeChant), Holts Summit; twenty-one grandchildren, Nate (Haley) McDonald, Shannon McDonald, Mika (Spencer) Schrimpf, Andrew Ballage, Stefan Ballage (Shelbi Musick), Ben (Bethany) McDonald, Miranda (Slade) Snowden, Toby McDonald (Brandon Hall), Rosalyn (Gary) Welschmeyer, Matthew (Jess) Summers, Sam (Kara) Grefrath, Peter Grefrath (Danielle Zbinden) Phillip Grefrath, Will Grefrath, Carly McDonald, Olivia McDonald, Kelly McDonald, Anthony Fadel, Claire Fadel, Kylee Farris, Connor Farris; five great-grandchildren, Jackson Schrimpf, Maddox Schrimpf, Elizabeth Schrimpf, ReNya McDonald, Chloe Summers; five sisters-in-law and brothers-in-law, Virginia Cerreto, Attleboro, Mass; June Renkemeyer, Jefferson City; Theresa and Herb Verslues, Jefferson City; Alma and Ed Sandbothe, Jefferson City; Fred Russler, Jefferson City; and numerous nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his sister and brother-in-law, Nancy McDonald Miller and John D. Miller; sister-in-law, Angela Renkemeyer Russler; sister and brother-in-law, Mary Jane and Lawrence Temmen, brothers-in-law, Roman Renkemeyer and Tony Cerreto.
Roman Catholic Mass of Christian Burial will be 10 a.m. Monday, October 4, 2010, at St. Peter Catholic Church with the Rev. J. David Maher officiating. Entombment with Military Honors will be in Resurrection Chapel Mausoleum. Visitation will be 3-6 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 3rd , at Dulle-Trimble Funeral Home, with a prayer service at 2:30 p.m. Memorials are suggested to USO of Missouri; Hospice Compassus, Alpha Gamma Rho Fraternity; or Helias Foundation. Those wishing to email condolences to the family may do so at the www.dulletrimble.com website.