BRUNSWICK – Beloved daughter, sister, wife, mother and grandmother has left us and is now free to reclaim the memories of her wonderful life. Buffy Grant died peacefully Dec. 18, 2008, in Brunswick, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Born Feb. 2, 1938, Buff was the middle child of three daughters and grew up in Cape Elizabeth. Buff inherited her father’s love of sailing; piloting her own first sailboat around Casco Bay when she was 14. She graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School, in 1956. Buff married Bruce McDonald, her high school love and a new Bowdoin College graduate, in 1957. Buff found her first true avocation as a tender, empathetic mother, bearing three children during six years. She taught by example, always having time for conversation and play. Buff had strong opinions and social conscience; she was an active member of League of Women Voters and other organizations. She earned her degree from Norwalk Community College School of Nursing, in 1975. Buff graduated as the salutatorian of her class. For the next two decades, she worked in hospital, nursing home and physician office settings in Connecticut, tending the needs of others with her careful touch. Buff’s pride shone on her grandchildren as they came along, a sense she never lost even as her illness progressed. She was a member of Sprite Island Yacht Club, Saugatuck Harbor Yacht Club and Saugatuck River Power Squadron. She enjoyed gardening, sailing and family time above all else. Bruce brought her back to Brunswick in 2004, where family, friends and the Bowdoin family have surrounded them with love and care. She leaves behind her husband, Bruce McDonald of Brunswick; her mother, Alice (Blackwood) Grant of Kennebunk; her two sisters, Patricia (Grant) Tifft of Durham, N.H., and Ralph Lachance of Vero Beach, Fla., and Alison (Grant) Small and husband, Peter, of Concord, Mass.; and three children, Jill McDonald and Scott Kimball of Brewer, Brian McDonald and wife, Marianne, of Norwalk, Conn., and Alan McDonald and wife, Beth, of Ellicott City, Md. Also left to cherish her memory are grandchildren, Taylor and Kaileigh Tremble of Brewer, Cory and Meredith McDonald of Norwalk, Conn., Ryan and Lauren McDonald of Ellicott City, Md., Seth Tremble and his wife, Blythe, of Oahu, Hawaii, and Ashley Hawkins-Kimball of Durham, N.H. Also surviving are Richard Tifft and wife, Beret, of South Portland and Ellen (Tifft) Coghill and husband, Antonio, of Fredericksburg, Va., Ben Small and wife, Katie, and Elizabeth Small, all of Boston; as well as many beloved great-nieces, great-nephews, aunts, uncles and many cousins. Visiting hours will be 6-8 p.m. Monday, Dec. 22, at Brackett Funeral Home, 29 Federal St., Brunswick. A funeral service will be held 10 a.m. Tuesday at First Parish Church, UCC, Brunswick, with the Rev. Mary Baard officiating. Burial will be in the spring at Pine Grove Cemetery, Brunswick. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to Respite Care Adult Day Service, 45 Baribeau Drive, Brunswick, ME 04011 or the Bruce McDonald ’57 Scholarship Fund at Bowdoin College.
ELIZABETH ‘BUFF’ (GRANT) MCDONALD
