FREDERICK MCDONALD
/ EPISCOPAL CLERGYMAN

Minister shaped
Iolani School

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By Mary Adamski
madamski@starbulletin.com

The Rev. Frederick McDonald, a former headmaster of Iolani School, "was the first architect to put his hand print on the school," said current Headmaster Val Iwashita.

The Episcopal clergyman spent 10 of his 60 years of service in Hawaii, as rector of St. Clement Parish in Makiki for six years before being selected to head the school from 1955 to 1959.

He died Friday in San Francisco at the age of 93.

Iwashita said McDonald was in charge during the school's transition from a Nuuanu Avenue site to the Ala Wai campus, which was a military compound during World War II. "We still benefit today" from decisions made then, he said. Iwashita visited McDonald in San Francisco recently. "In my brief time with him, I got a glimpse of his sincerity and intellect. He was a high-minded individual, fond of memories of Hawaii and Iolani."

"I told him about Iolani winning state championships in basketball and swimming. His answer to me was, 'Don't forget to emphasize academics,'" Iwashita recalled.

During World War II, McDonald was an Army chaplain of Special Troops, 12th Army Group, commanded by Gen. Omar Bradley. Bradley's memoirs, "A Soldier's Story," quoted McDonald's sermon at a service held when the war ended in Europe.

McDonald visited damaged churches and synagogues during the war, methodically collecting shards of glass from their demolished stained-glass windows along with a story about each location. A memorial project is under way to use those remnants for new windows at the Interfaith Center at the Presidio Army post in San Francisco. "Bringing back a work of beauty out of the destruction seems to reflect his personality perfectly," Iwashita said.

McDonald was born in Seattle and graduated from the University of Washington and the General Theological Seminary in New York.

After leaving Hawaii, he served in Europe and worked to unite Anglican dioceses in the Middle East and North Africa. In 1991 he celebrated the first Eucharistic service ever held at the North Pole while aboard a Russian icebreaker.

He is survived by sister Elizabeth Parsons, nephews and nieces.

Funeral services will be held Friday at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in San Francisco.

Memorial contributions may be made to the McDonald Window Project, Interfaith Center at the Presidio, P.O. Box 29055, San Francisco, CA 94129.