Abraham Fred "Fred" MacDonald

1892 - 1980  (88 years)

• Name	Abraham Fred "Fred" MacDonald
  Born	1892  [1]
  Gender	Male
  FindAGrave	https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/186952100
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-60124
  Died	1980  [1]
  Buried	Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada   [1]
  Person ID	I60124	Generations
  Last Modified	3 Mar 2025

  
  

  Father	William S. MacDonald,   b. 1861,   d. 1943  (Age 82 years)
  Mother	Melissa A. Felker,   b. 1861,   d. 1932  (Age 71 years)
  Family ID	F277409	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Sarah Locker Campbell,   b. 13 Sep 1891, North Dumfries Twp., Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 1 Oct 1982, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 91 years)
  Children	1. James Campbell MacDonald,   b. 17 Apr 1922, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 21 Apr 1922, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 0 years)   2. William Frederick "Bill" MacDonald,   b. 22 May 1923, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 19 Apr 2009, Victoria, British Columbia  (Age 85 years)   3. Marion Grace MacDonald,   b. 17 Sep 1925, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 7 Oct 1932, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 7 years)   4. John Bruce "Bruce" MacDonald,   b. 20 Apr 1926, Galt (Cambridge), Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada ,   d. 5 Jul 2013, St. John, New Brunswick  (Age 87 years)
  Last Modified	4 Mar 2025
  Family ID	F15732	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Photos

  MacDonald-AbrahamFred-001-AncestryPublicMemberTree.JPG Abraham Fred MacDonald - SchweyenWarner originally shared this on 20 Nov 2014 Ancestry Public Member Trees

  
  

• Notes

  LIVE IN 140-YEAR-OLD HOME Couple, 80, both First War vets By GERALD WRIGHT Record Staff Writer GALT - In any contest to name a unique couple in Waterloo County, not many would have much of a chance alongside Mr. and Mrs. Fred MacDonald of RR 5, Galt. Consider a few of their qualifications. They are one of only a few husband and wife teams left in Canada who are both veterans of the First World War. Their marriage represents a union of two families the MacDonalds and Campbells who in Scottish history were the bitterest of traditional enemies. They live in a house of which the first-storey walls and foundation were built almost 140 years ago, making it one of the oldest in the area. The house built entirely by Mr. MacDonald from the ruins of a pioneer home - is the only one in which they have lived since their marriage almost 51 years ago. The house is located only a few hundred feet from where Mrs. MacDonald was born and raised, and just three miles from Mr. MacDonald's boyhood home. Although Mrs. MacDonald was 80 last year and her husband 80 this year, both lead active lives and still enjoy fair health. Mr. MacDonald still works three days a week in a Galt factory and makes cabinets at home in his sparetime. As a sergeant gunner in the Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Mr. MacDonald participated in every major First World War battle fought by the Canadian Corps after 1915. He was at the battles of the Somme, Passchendaele, Amiens and Vimy Ridge - the latter 55 years ago this Sunday April 9. As a United States army nurse, Mrs. MacDonald attended to hundreds of critically wounded soldiers at casualty clearing station behind the American sector. Among her most vivid and painful memories are those of soldiers with infections against which the medications of the time were almost useless. The happiest memory of her war experience involves a Mormon soldier from Utah who was shot through the neck and in the legs. He could neither talk nor walk. One day he held up for her a copy of a newspaper from the United States in which his name appeared on a casualty list as killed in action. On a piece of paper he wrote the address of his family in Utah. Mrs. MacDonald wrote to the family and explained the mistake. "After a while they wrote me back. They were so grateful they couldn't get over it. They had already received official word of their son's death and had even held a memorial service for him." Eventually the injured man recovered completely, married and raised a family in Utah. The MacDonalds kept in touch with him until his death in 1967. Since then his widow has written Mrs. MacDonald at least once a year, usually at Christmas. Mrs. MacDonald has an autograph book filled with poems written by soldiers on their hospital beds and a number of sketches and drawings. Mr. MacDonald has his own war souvenir - probably unique too. It consists of an ink well and pen rack made from the hoof of a Russian pony captured from the Germans. The upper part of the ink well is made from a German shell casing and the lid is a time fuse from a British shell. The horseshoe on the hoof is made from the driving band of a German shell and the nails from the copper jackets of French army bullets. A paper knife and nail file, which are part of the ornament, are made of parts of bullets. The hoof is embossed with cap badges and collar buttons from Canadian uniforms. The MacDonalds have two sons, William of Waterloo and Bruce of Preston. Kitchener-Waterloo Record, Kitchener, Ontario, 11 May 1972 pg 16

  
  

• Sources

  [S122] Cemetery - ON, Waterloo, Cambridge - Mount View CC#4495 Internet Link . MacDONALD/ in loving memory of/ LeVerne/ 1900-1971/ his wife/ Lulu MUTTON/ 1896-1989/ A. Fred/ 1892-1980/ his wife/ Sarah L. CAMPBELL/ 1891-1982/ William F./ 1923-2009/ David Fraser/ 1947-2007/

  
  

• Event Map

  Buried - - Mount View Cemetery, Cambridge, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  = Link to Google Earth