Chris McDonald (1998)
As her neighbor, fellow town officer, and friend, I have found Chris McDonald to be a tireless worker for every organization in Greenville, from her church to the Greenville Library, as well as innumerable other causes such as the senior citizen groups. She is never too busy to lend a hand selling tickets or chances, taking pictures, making phone calls, or any other activity with which might be needed. I have never known her to neglect her friend who is housebound or in the hospital. We in Greenville have been fortunate indeed to have such a treasure as Christina McDonald.”
- Jeanne Bear
And a treasure Chris McDonald has been to Greenville.
Born Christina Gammon in Jersey City in 1912, Chris was raised by her grandparents after her mother died when Chris was four. She attended PS 92, Erasmus high school, and Hunter’s Evening College. She later worked for Metropolitan Life Insurance for 14 years before marrying Ed McDonald, a US Customs Agent, in 1943. They resided in Miami Beach, Brooklyn’s Flatbush, and Cypress Hills. A daughter was Mary was born in 1947.
In the mid-60s, Ed and Chris were vacationing in Saugerties and looking for a summer home. Fate would have them buying a house in 1966 about a half-mile east of Greenville. Ed served Greenville as a Town Justice; but when he died in 1969, Chris stayed, and Greenville has benefited from her talents.
Chris has been became the chronicler of Greenville’s activities. In 1967 she started writing a column for the Greenville Local, something she did until 1995. The Greene County News hired Chris as a correspondent in 1968 and Chris continues this endeavor that produces a Greenville page once a week in the Daily Mail as well is the Greene County News. Notices of meetings, a list of birthdays and anniversaries, public releases about fundraisers, chitchat about the neighborhood, and photographs of all of these have kept Greenville’s readers informed of the town’s goings-on.
Just as important, Chris’s work provides the social glue and bond our town has needed, enjoyed, and appreciated. Chris’s enjoyment of small-town life, her sharp but smooth sense of humor, and her attention to the small details of life exude from her column.
Another source of her knowledge of the town comes from her twelve years as Town Assessor, from 1969 to 1981. Chris notes that people are easy to talk to and always gave her good support. Her philosophy of friendliness was learn from experiences. “If a person moving into this town wants to live here and enjoys living here, the whole town is friendly.”
Chris seems to have her finger on the pulse of the town. And one should not be surprised. Chris is a “joiner” and has belonged to many of Greenville’s groups and clubs, all of which would receive notice in her column.
A list of her endeavors include the following: Greenville Republican club, Greenville Republican Town Committee, Greene County Republican committee, 1972 charter member of the National Republican Committee, St. John the Baptist Church (is a rosarian, was on parish council, and Eucharist minister), Greene County senior citizen counsel chapter member, RSVP volunteer and RSVP crafters as well as the development and support group, Greenville and Hiawatha nutrition centers, Greenville Golden Years Club charter member, tour director for 12 years, AARP president, Carol Golden age, Catskill Valley historical Society charter member, Durham Center Museum board of director, Next to New Shop, Greenville Library, Greenville Town Park, advisory Council for the department for aging, Catholic community and family services, Clematis Garden Club, American Legion Auxiliary, Greenville fire Company Auxiliary, as well as work with Larry Lane to get DFA into Greene County which resulted in the county’s first senior citizen center – the Rivertown Center.
Chris has a number of awards from the Greene County Senior Citizen Counsel, the Greenville Golden years, AARP, the Greene County Legislature, the Parish, the New York State Legislature and the National Republican Committee Legion of Merit.
Chris is especially proud of her family – daughter and son-in-law Mary and Larry Hodak, and her three grandchildren (Kathleen, Michael and John).
Chris McDonald has done for Greenville in these past thirty years, in retirement, what most would hope to accomplish in a lifetime. Through her own force of character and wit and service, Chris has not only represented herself but also has dignified and strengthen the Greenville area. It is because of the mark she has left on Greenville that the Greenville Local History Group recognizes and appreciates Christina McDonald.
By Don Teator, Greenville Town Historian.