Hector and Carol McDonald Scholarship in Greek and Roman Studies

Hector McDonald was born in Prince Rupert in 1920, where he graduated from high school. He then worked as a fishing boat deckhand, but with World War II breaking out he joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. He flew 22 missions over Europe as a bomber pilot attached to the Royal Air Force (Squadron 570), including in Arnhem and D-Day. He received two commendations from the King for his service.

After the war he attended UBC and then dental school at the University of Oregon in Portland, where he married Carol Larson in 1951. It was then back to Prince Rupert to start a dental practice and have six children in six and a half years. In 1966 Hector returned to the University of Oregon where he was the oldest orthodontic student in the United States. Carol, from Le Grande, OR, was a graduate of Brigham Young University and had been a school teacher.

Hector and Carol moved their family to Victoria in 1968 where Hector practiced orthodontics until he retired in 1989. Carol had become a US Immigration officer in Prince Rupert and she continued that job in Victoria in addition to looking after their children.

In his 70s, Hector decided to go back to university and graduated from UVic with a degree in Latin and Roman history. Carol started another career raising cows at their weekend home in Sequim, WA.

After his death in 2007, Carol established a scholarship in Greek and Roman studies at UVic in his honour. Carol passed away in 2019 and the award is now named after both of them.