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2015 SESSION


HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION NO. 840
Celebrating the life of John Early McDonald, Jr.

 

Agreed to by the House of Delegates, February 20, 2015
Agreed to by the Senate, February 25, 2015

 

WHEREAS, John Early McDonald, Jr., of Richmond, a distinguished attorney, proud veteran, and active community leader, died on December 31, 2014; and

WHEREAS, a native of Petersburg, John McDonald graduated from Petersburg High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from Washington and Lee University and a law degree from the University of Virginia; and

WHEREAS, after beginning his professional career as regional counsel for the Internal Revenue Service in Texas, John McDonald practiced law with several major firms, specializing in civil litigation, construction law, and real estate development transactions; and

WHEREAS, for 20 years, John McDonald served as an officer of the LandAmerica Financial Group, where he argued cases before United States district and state courts and the United States Court of Appeals until his retirement in 2001; and

WHEREAS, John McDonald also served his country in the United States Army for two years as commander of an armored company; he continued his military service in the National Guard, where he transferred to the Judge Advocate General’s Corps and retired as a colonel, earning the Legion of Merit for his exceptional 30-year career; and

WHEREAS, John McDonald served as a member of both Democratic and Republican Committees in the Richmond area; from 1969 to 1974, he served as legal counsel to the Senate Courts of Justice Committee, when the committee reorganized the Virginia District and Circuit Court systems and expanded the right to vote to all 18-year-olds; and

WHEREAS, a member of the Boy Scouts of America as a youth, John McDonald passed on the proud traditions of Scouting to his sons; he served as chair of the Capital District Committee and a member of the Cardinal District Committee and what is now the Heart of Virginia Council of the Boy Scouts of America; and

WHEREAS, John McDonald served as president of the Fan District Association and supported protective buffers during the construction of I-195; he further supported preservation and the fine arts in Richmond as a member of the Virginia Historical Society, the Henrico Preservation Advisory Committee of the Henrico Planning Commission, the Folk Art Society of America, the Sons of the American Revolution, and the Scottish-American Military Society; and

WHEREAS, John McDonald enjoyed fellowship and worship with the Petersburg and Richmond communities as a member of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and Christ Church Episcopal; and

WHEREAS, John McDonald will be fondly remembered and greatly missed by his wife of 49 years, Mary; sons, John III and Bryan, and their families; and numerous other family members, friends, and colleagues; now, therefore, be it

RESOLVED by the House of Delegates, the Senate concurring, That the General Assembly hereby note with great sadness the loss of John Early McDonald, Jr., an accomplished attorney, veteran, and leader in the Richmond community; and, be it

RESOLVED FURTHER, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates prepare a copy of this resolution for presentation to the family of John Early McDonald, Jr., as an expression of the General Assembly’s respect for his memory.