Thursday, February 8, 2007 Older Editions

The Back Page: The MacDonalds - an Andover story

By Bill Dalton

Dave MacDonald's family came to Andover the same way many families did. In 1910, his father emigrated from Brechin, Scotland, to work in the mills. He worked for J.P. Stevens and became a loom fixer. In the First World War, he served with several Andover men in Army Company B, 302nd Machine Gun Battalion. (They included Frank Markey, Tom Dea and Fred Redman.)

After the war, he went back to work for J.P. Stevens at Marland Mills. His timing was good, and he retired in the 1950s, as the mills moved south.

Dave's mom, Annie McGrath, immigrated to Lawrence from Glasgow in 1915 with her father and sister. When they saved enough money, they sent for the rest of the family. Annie married Sam Murray, and they had two sons, Sam Jr. and John. In 1918, Sam and Sam Jr. died during the the Great Influenza Epidemic. A few years later, Annie met Dave's father (who Dave was named after), and they married. In 1923, Dave was born in a house on North Main Street. (The house was later moved and is now on the corner of North Main and Sweeney Court). Soon, the MacDonalds, including Dave's half-brother John Murray, moved to a mill house at 9-11 Cassimere St. By 1926, they'd saved enough to buy a home at 2 Upland Road.

Dave graduated from Punchard in 1941. It was Principal Nathan Hamblin's last year, and Dave says, "It was rumored that he'd had enough after contending with our group, which included: Ralph (Bunny) Manning, Bob Burnham, Kathleen Quill, Bill Morrissey, Doris Bourdelais, Ken (Limey) Lewis, Katherine McCarthy, Jim Carmichael, Ben Dargoonian and Clare Flaherty."

They graduated six months before the attack on Pearl Harbor. Dave joined the Navy and was assigned to the carrier, U.S.S. Yorktown, in 1943. He was wounded and was in Navy hospitals from May 1945 until February 1946, having several operations to repair an Achilles tendon. When he returned to Andover, he went to work with his brother, John Murray, who owned the Gulf Station at Main and Chestnut streets, and began dating Ruth Anderson.

Ruth Anderson's grandfather, John Anderson, was born in Andover in 1840. He grew to be a robust man and started a blacksmith business with a Mr. Bowman, calling it "Anderson & Bowman." The business operated from the 1880s until early in the 20th Century, at the corner of Bartlet and Park streets. (This later became the location for a car dealership, Johnnies Market and now Park Street Village and a metered parking lot.) John Anderson married, and he and his wife Mary had a son Burtt in 1886. Burtt grew up, becoming a steam fitter and plumber. He married Florence Wood, from Madison, Maine, in the early 1900s. Their first child, John Anderson, was born in 1919 and graduated from Punchard in 1937. He was a career Air Force officer, flying combat missions in World War II and Vietnam. He retired as a lieutenant colonel and died in 1988. His widow Ann (Scanlon) Anderson, son Richard Anderson and Richard's wife Ann live on Cutler Road.

Burtt and Florence Anderson's second child was Ruth, who was born in 1927 and graduated from Punchard in 1945. The Anderson family first lived at 87 Chestnut St. and then moved to a two-family house at 79-81 Chestnut.

Ruth's grandfather, the blacksmith, built both houses. Ruth, often called Ruthie, was a babysitter for my older brother and me in the mid 1940s. We lived just down the street. Over the years, my parents spoke of Ruthie often, always in the kindest terms. After Ruth graduated from Punchard, she worked for the Merrimack Mutual Insurance Company at 342 North Main St. (now on Old River Road). Dave MacDonald and Ruthie Anderson met while she worked there, and they married in 1948. While living at 81 Chestnut St., they had their first child, Burtt, in 1949 and then Geoffrey in late 1952.

I was little Burtt's patrol leader when he first started school. He was the patrol leaders' favorite child. Burtt was adorable, amusing, and loved to laugh and kid with the older kids. He was very bright, understanding all the jokes we older kids had. I'd go home and tell my parents about him. One day in May 1955, my parents called me into the kitchen and explained that little Burtt had been sick and passed away. My mother was teary. Such a wonderful child was Burtt, that I remember him like it was only yesterday. Those of us who knew the MacDonalds, and many in town did, wept and prayed for them and little Burtt.

In 1956, Peter was born. Meanwhile, Dave had gone to work for the Andover National Bank, in the building across Main Street from the Old Town Hall. He became vice president of business development and marketing. The bank went through mergers and acquisitions, eventually becoming part of BayBank. (The building is now a branch of Bank of America.) Dave says, "I was getting itchy. I was a country banker, and my present bank did not fit that pattern. I took a flyer and invested in The Ad King in 1978." (As a lawyer, I had helped facilitate the transfer of ownership of The Ad King from John Fitzgerald's estate - he started the business in 1925 and died in 1976 - to Ben Waters, who was the owner of the company when Mr. MacDonald bought into it.)

Dave says, "A quick and sudden change in economic conditions caused a negative effect on our customer base and Mr. Waters wanted out. Ruth and I made a major decision and purchased his interest in the company. At this point both boys were old enough to allow Ruth to come in and run the office. We looked for new customers and expanded our customer base."

The MacDonald's sons married. Geoffrey married Rosemary Aumais in 1977. Her dad is Dick Aumais, one of the town's best and most well-known police officers (now retired), and the entire Aumais family is well-liked. A few years later, Peter MacDonald married Lisa Tubert, who is from Worcester, and they have three boys. But, again, a veil of tears dropped on MacDonald family. Dave says, "It struck: Ruth had cancer. She entered an intensive program of radiation and chemotherapy. I then retired and turned the company over to the boys. In 1994, Ruth's cancer was in remission. This allowed us to do the traveling we always wanted to do. Then, in late 2001, the cancer returned and Ruth passed away on Dec. 7, 2001. Loved by many and missed by all."

Today, Dave says this about his family and its business: "The boys and their wives, along with three sales people, make The Ad King go. In fact, Peter's oldest boy Ben, a college student, does deliveries for the company. That's called management succession. I still live at 81 Chestnut St. My son Peter and his wife Lisa, along with my three grandsons, live on the first floor at 79 Chestnut St. My son Jeff and Rosemary bought my folk's house at 2 Upland Road. The family all live within yelling distance." Dave adds, "Jim Carmichael and I have coffee most every morning along with Doug Howe (the senior), Herb Muller, and a few non-townies. We settle all the problems of the world."

Dave's daughter-in-law, Rosemary, has a nice summary: "When Dave and Ruth's three grandchildren were little, they called Dave and Ruth "Bup" and "Nini." As years went by, Bup and Nini turned into one name... BUP-N-NINI. I think the one name they shared represented their lives together. They lived as one person in our eyes and hearts."

Columnist Bill Dalton's e-mail address is billdalton@billdaltononline.com.