Jim MacDonald Obituary, Death Cause – At the Central Haven Special Care Home in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, on May 2, 2023, James MacDonald died away with all of the tenacity, dignity, and humility that had marked his long life. He is survived by his daughter Mairi (Trevor Marshall) of Saskatoon, son Ewen and grandson Brandon, both of Pickering, Ontario, and by his loving wife Nan, who passed away in 2013. He was married to Nan for many years before she passed away in 2013.
After getting married in October of 1957, the couple relocated to Saskatoon, where Jim started working as a research officer at the Prairie Regional Laboratory of the National Research Council. Jim’s interest in music and dance followed him wherever he went, regardless of where he resided. Through their participation in the Saskatoon Scottish Country Dancers, Jim and Nan were introduced to two other Nans who would go on to become their lifelong companions. They also enjoyed ballroom dancing and could be coaxed into performing a good jitterbug if given the opportunity.
Medicine Hat, Alberta was the place of Jim’s birth. He got his Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from the University of Alberta, as well as his Doctor of Philosophy in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Jim moved back to Canada to take up a postdoctoral position at McMaster University after completing a post-doctoral fellowship that was shared between the universities of Sheffield and Oxford (as a result of his supervisor, Hans Krebs, being given a Nobel Prize). Agnes (Nan) Davidson was one of the people he met while he was in Hamilton.
