Martha E. McDonald-Swan

On October 21, 2020, Martha E. (Hale) McDonald-Swan passed away surrounded by her husband, children and grandchildren as they sang to her in her home in Franklin, WI.

Born in 1950 in Bridgeport, CT she grew up in Park Ridge, IL. Martha received a Bachelors of Science in Business, Marketing and Advertising from Indiana University in 1972 in Indianapolis, IN. For more than 20 years, she was an entrepreneur who founded and piloted Swan Enterprises, a full service advertising agency, as well as B&B MidWest Reservations providing a bed and breakfast reservation service that she started while living in Hoffman Estates, IL. While living in Columbus, IN she also served as a Court Appointed Special Advocate for children in the foster system.

Martha brought joy to others through music at Maine South HS, IU Singing Hoosiers, Evansville Sweet Adelines, and through solo performances. She was the Director of the Newburg UMC church choir while she lived in Evansville, IN and then later the Director of The Grand Dominion Singers while she lived in Mundelein, IL. She was also passionate about travel, cooking, family traditions, gardening, and painting.

Martha is survived by her husband Martin Swan; her children David McDonald and Christine Keller from Martha’s first marriage to Bruce McDonald; and her grandsons Elliot and Wesley. They invite you to join them for a remote memorial service to celebrate her life on Friday, November 6th at 7pm CT http://tiny.cc/marthaswan.

In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the food pantry she volunteered with and is run by her daughter at Fourth Presbyterian Church in South Boston, MA: https://www.fourthboston.org/foodpantry/martha