Ethel Sharp McDonald

Ethel Sharp McDonald was a loving, spirited, and faith-filled woman whose life began on November 12, 1943, in Covington, Louisiana, and whose journey of grace and perseverance came to a peaceful close at her daughter’s home in Madison, Mississippi, after courageously facing Alzheimer’s disease.

Ethel was one of eight children born to Dallas Carter Sharp and Grace Lloyd Sharp. Her younger years were difficult as her father died when she only 2 years old, and her mother died when she was 13. Her siblings took turns raising her until she met the love of her life, Harry McDonald, and they married when she was 19.

Ethel devoted many years of service to the Tangipahoa Parish School System, where she retired after 25 years as a lunchroom worker, most of those years at Natalbany Middle School. She was known throughout the Woodhaven community for her vegetable garden. Each year she tended to her vegetables and watched them grow. She was also generous in giving much of her crop to neighbors and friends.

Family was at the center of Ethel’s heart, and she loved hers with unwavering devotion. She is survived by her son, Dwayne McDonald and his wife Kelly, and her daughter, Theresa McDonald Hudgins and her husband Michael. She was a proud grandmother to Kaelon Speckner and her husband Joe, Ashley Bottolfs and her husband Ryan, Justin McDonald, and Gavin Hudgins and his wife Taylor. She was also blessed with two great-grandchildren, Sterling Joe Michael Speckner and Brayden Bottolfs, a joy she treasured deeply.

She is preceded in death by her parents, husband of 55 years Harry McDonald, siblings, Ella Grace Ward, Vidalia Sharp, Uletha Sharp Quave, Leona Helton, Dallas “D.C.” Sharp, Andrew Sharp, and Charlie Sharp.

Ethel lived with a spirit that was both gentle and strong. She loved gardening, and there was something fitting about that, because she knew how to nurture life, patience, and beauty. Just as she tended to the earth with care, she tended to her family. She also had a special fondness for Elvis Presley, whose music she was listening to in her final days.

Though Alzheimer’s slowly changed the path of her earthly journey, it could not erase the essence of who she was. Her rehab nurses doted on her personality and that she was their favorite patient, as she was always smiling. When asked "Mrs. Ethel, how do you feel" her reply was, "I'm fine as frog hair".

Visitation will be Monday, August 3, 2026, at Harry McKneely Funeral Home in Hammond, LA with visitation 9:00 to 11:00 am. A funeral service will follow at 11:00 am in the funeral home chapel, and interment will be in Woodhaven Baptist Church Cemetery.