Bessie "Jean" McDonald

Bessie “Jean” Linker McDonald was a beloved wife, mother, and grandmother. She was the consummate homemaker and nurturer. She is sorely missed by all her family and friends. Jean was born January 31,1940 to Ernest Lee Linker and Barbara Lee Dobbins Linker. She grew up in the small Southeastern Oklahoma community of Buffalo Valley, where she was born. She graduated from Buffalo Valley High School in 1958 in a class of 21 graduates. On September 6, 1958, she married her long time sweetheart, Lonnie McDonald, after a tumultuous relationship. The couple often laughed that they did all their arguing and fighting before they married, and they spent 66 wonderful years as husband and wife.

Jean and Lonnie made their first home as a couple in Farmington, NM, but they soon returned to Oklahoma. In June of 1959 they celebrated the birth of their first child Michael Lon McDonald, and shortly thereafter moved to Dumas, Texas where they lived the remainder of their life together. The couple welcomed a daughter, Barbara Kathleen, to the family on July 9, 1968.

Jean’s home was beautiful and always immaculate. She took pride in how her home and family appeared to others. She never failed to make up the beds in the morning and woe unto you if you sat on her perfectly crisp bed spreads. Jean ironed and starched every piece of clothing her family wore. It was often joked that she even starched Lonnie’s handkerchiefs. She was an excellent seamstress sewing for the home and clothing mostly for Kathy. She was a little bit of a perfectionist about her sewing projects thinking her creations were never quite faultless. Jean also crocheted thousands of beautiful pieces during her life. She loved to create soft fluffy pastel baby blankets for new moms, and many friends and family members benefited from that love. Her other favorite crochet project was pineapple doilies and they were truly works of art. Jean was also a wonderful cook. She made the best homemade bread and doughnuts you could ever imagine. She would often call her family members on a weekend morning and tell them the hot, fresh doughnuts and coffee would be ready about 3:00 that afternoon, and we would all gather at their house for doughnuts, fellowship and laughter. Those are priceless memories for all of us.

Jean and Lonnie’s home was always a gathering place for Kathy’s friends during high school. She always made them feel welcome and loved, and most of them saw her as a second mom. Jean hosted countless Friday night Trivial Pursuit parties for that group of friends. Lonnie would compete right along with the kids, while Jean was the perfect hostess. She popped gallons of popcorn on the stove,and made tons of sweet treats for them. She seldom joined the game, but she helped all the teams cheat occasionally.

Jean loved being a mom and grandmother most of all. During elementary school, Jason and Arliss would get off the school bus at her house and spend a couple hours with her while they waited for their parents to get off work. Jean also looked after Jason’s children quite a bit. Specifically, Emmy stayed with Jean until she started kindergarten.

In the last few years of Jean’s life, she struggled with dementia and lived in a memory care facility, Goodlife of Amarillo. Even there, Jean cared for fellow residents and staff members. In her last days, they showered her with love and attention, and we her family are ever in their debt.

Jean is preceded in death by parents Ernest and Barbara Linker and husband Lonnie McDonald. She is survived by brother Harlan and wife Betty of Kellyville, OK; son Mike and wife Nikki McDonald of Dumas; Daughter Kathy and husband Greg Bybee of Dumas; grandsons Jason McDonald and wife Iris, Arliss McDonald and wife Morgan, Zachary Bybee, Tyler Bybee and fiance Julia Blanchard, and Ryan Bybee and wife Evyn; granddaughter Kara Thompson and husband Devon; great grandchildren Trace McDonald, Emmalee McDonald, Luke Thompson, Lane Thompson, Lynlee Thompson, Simon Bybee, Larkin McDonald, Ailee Bybee and soon to be Wrigley McDonald

The funeral service will be held Friday, April 25, 2025, at 11 o'clock in the morning at First Baptist Church with Pastor Matt Price, pastor of the church, officiating. Interment will follow in the Dumas Cemetery under the direction of Beeson ~ Morrison Funeral Directors. The family will receive visitors at the funeral home from 5 o'clock until 7 o'clock in the evening on Thursday.