Individual Details

The Press-Enterprise, Riverside, California, Sunday, June 27, 1999, MacPherson Edition, Page B 04: Donald MacPherson, 92, with paper 56 years. Riverside--Journalist Donald MacPherson, who was the longest tenured employee at The Press-Enterprise when he retired in 1981, died Thursday of kidney failure at Community Care and Rehabilitation Center in Riverside. He was 92. Mr. MacPherson joined the news staff of the Daily Enterprise in 1925 before the morning newspaper merged with the evening Press. He was Press wire editor from 1935 until 1947. Next he supervised "housewife correspondents," mostly women who wrote about news, community and social activities around Riverside County, said Tom Patterson, former columnist for the paper. Mr. MacPherson traveled around the county to stay in touch with the correspondents, Patterson said. From the 1950s through the 1970s, he covered county and regional water districts, including Metropolitan, Eastern and Western. Doyle Boen, who became Eastern's first general manager in 1951, said Mr. MacPherson was a tremendous help in his reporting as Eastern and other agencies sold bonds and developed huge backbone water systems to serve parts of western Riverside County. Boen said, Mr. McPherson "did an excellent job of explaining what we were trying to accomplish." In the 1950s, he was one of several staff members to author the daily Partyline column. He retired in 1981 after 56 years of service. Mr. MacPherson, who was born in Los Angeles, lived in Riverside 85 years. He was a 1924 graduate of Riverside Poly High School and attended Riverside Community College. He enjoyed off-road jaunts into the desert and belonged to two four-wheel drive clubs, Hill-N-Gully Riders and the Riverside Ruff Riders. Services will be private. The Neptune Society in Riverside is handling arrangements. Mr. MacPherson is survived by a son, Richard of Riverside; and two grandsons, Richard T. and Kenneth, both of Riverside. The family suggests memorial contributions to Mojave Desert Heritage and Cultural Association, P.O. Box 66, Essex, 92332. The group is interested in research and education about the natural and cultural history of the Mojave, including preservation of historic buildings and trails.

Birth	30 Dec 1906	Los Angeles Co., California
Marriage	26 Feb 1938	Yuma Co., Arizona - Nana LaFrance Cramer
Death	24 Jun 1999	Riverside, Riverside Co., California
Burial		Evergreen Memorial Park and Mausoleum, Riverside, Riverside Co., California

Spouse	Nana LaFrance Cramer (1908 - 1989)
Child	Richard Stuart MacPherson (1945 - )

Father	Duncan W MacPherson (1866 - 1929)
Mother	Minnie Belle Morrison (1880 - 1979)
Sibling	Gordon Robert MacPherson (1909 - 2000)
Sibling	Herbert Grenfell MacPherson (1911 - 1993)