On February 5th at 7.50 am in Royal Bolton Infirmary, Br Donald went to the Lord. He had just turned 90. Born in Spean Bridge, Inverness, Scotland, on February 1st, 1930, he had an older brother, Jake, and younger sister, Frances, both already deceased. As a boy Donald used to help the SND sisters in Fort William, doing the shopping (the 'messages') and odd jobs. It was there that he met Fr Hall SDB and decided to try his vocation with the Salesians in Pott Shrigley, Cheshire. He went to the Novitiate in 1950 (Beckford and Burwash) and made his first profession on Sept 8th, 1951. After a further two years in Burwash, he returned to Scotland and was a member of the Aberdour community until 1967. A year at Shrigley followed, a year at Blaisdon and five more at Aberdour. After seven more years at Shrigley he was able to fulfil his dream from boyhood to be a missionary, going to Monrovia in Liberia, West Africa. He spent five years in Monrovia helping to establish the college and community, five years in Tappita in the interior of the country, and a further five in Monrovia, before returning to the UK. For the next twenty-one years he was a member of the Provincial House community, ten in Stockport, eleven in Thornleigh, Bolton, before finally retiring to St Joseph's in 2018.

Tributes have come in from Liberia, where he was a pioneer and where he worked for fifteen years, from Ghana, where he spent a year and set up the carpentry workshop, from Australia, Germany, Kenya, Canada, as well as from many parts of this country, north and south of the border.

A word we associate with Donald is 'friendship'. So many of us and so many others have known the joy of his friendship; he was one of those people whose life has touched ours and made such a difference. Donald had a gift for making friends; he had friends everywhere. He would talk to anyone he met, always ready to engage with warmth and a smile. And he succeeded in maintaining his friendships with phone calls, letters, cards, Skype and emails with interesting, amusing and creative attachments. Quite remarkable! There were occasional computer glitches, and at times he threatened to use his hammer to solve them!

In 2007 I authored a book on the symbols in John's Gospel. In my reflections on the episode in which Jesus washes the feet of his disciples, I wrote: 'In my community we have a brother called Donald, Donald MacDonald. Some of you will know him. He is from the Highlands of Scotland and has no connections with the famous and ubiquitous fast-food chain. He too is one of those people who incarnates the meaning of Christian servanthood. A carpenter by trade, he can turn his hand to anything-electricity, plumbing, cooking, car maintenance, gardening (especially sunflowers) ... He was a missionary in Liberia, West Africa, for twenty years. He is now 77 years old. Donald lives at the service of others, always seeking to foster the good and well-being of others. He is so aware, so sensitive to detail, so attentive to the least need, so obliging, so incredibly thoughtful. Nothing is too much trouble. And everyone gets the same treatment; it isn't reserved for the Provincial or visitors from Rome! Whatever he has, whatever he can do, his time, his energy, everything is for others. Servanthood has become his way of being, his way of living. A man really and truly for others. It is such a privilege to live with such a disciple of Jesus.'

And he didn't change during the remaining thirteen years of his presence among us. And his service was always joyful, encouraging, enthusiastic.

One of the emails we received came from the village of Tappita in Liberia; Donald worked there for a while. Fr Riccardo wrote: "We are very grateful for the years he spent in Liberia and especially here in Tappita, where people still have a vivid memory of this saintly and hardworking brother." The word 'saintly' isn't one we use easily these days. But it does highlight another aspect of Donald's life. He was a man of prayer and a genuinely holy man. God, the God of love and mercy, was central to his life. Donald was also devoted to Our Lady, and an expert in creating little shrines for the chapel for feast days.

Donald was a very practical man, able to solve most problems which occurred in the House: electrical, plumbing, woodwork. A tribute came from Fr Krzystof, the Provincial economer in Ghana, who was sent there as a missionary with little experience and was having difficulty in establishing the workshops. Donald was asked to come and help. "I remember the day I met you. You approached me with a smile and open arms as if you were waiting for me." Together they solved the problems and set up the workshops. Donald was also a keen gardener, often seen tidying up, mowing the lawn, planting bulbs. Sunflowers were his speciality; a large wall-hanging of a sunflower, made for his 90th birthday, was hanging on his coffin in chapel during the funeral Mass.

Life's end came peacefully after a month in the Royal Bolton Hospital, and was very painful for Donald, and for us. His wonderful life as an exemplary Salesian brother had reached its fulfilment, as Jesus came to take him home to the place prepared for him (John 14:1-3). And we must let him go, with both thanksgiving and sadness in our hearts.

May he rest in peace.

Fr Michael T Winstanley SDB