Alice McDonald

Alice M. McDonald, who started Bermuda Party Rentals and ran it until her 82nd birthday this past July, died of colon cancer on Friday at home on Old Northwest Road in East Hampton.

She was born in Brooklyn to Alice and Nicholas DeVenere, July 28, 1929, spending her childhood and early adult life living in Leonia, N.J., and summering in East Hampton. When Mrs. McDonald was still a teenager, she met and befriended her future husband, Donald McDonald, who survives her, during one of those summers. She married the East Hampton native in 1959, and they spent the next 52 years living in East Hampton and Del Ray Beach, Fla.

After graduating from Keuka College in 1951, Mrs. McDonald found work as the secretary for the president of the renowned B.B.D.O. advertising agency in New York City, but, according to her family, after moving to the country she took on being a wife and mother with the same energy and devotion she had for her job.

Mrs. McDonald started Bermuda Party Rentals in the mid- '70s, and grew it into a thriving business. In her spare time, she enjoyed her family, cooking, fishing, painting, and travel, visiting 130 countries with her husband during her lifetime.

Along with her husband, Mrs. McDonald is survived by her three children, Stephen of San Jose, Costa Rica, Tom of East Hampton, and Donna of San Francisco. She is also survived by four grandchildren.

Visiting hours will be held today from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Yardley and Pino Funeral Home in East Hampton, with a funeral at 10 a.m. tomorrow at Most Holy Trinity, followed by burial at Most Holy Trinity Cemetery. The family is requesting that donations in Mrs. McDonald 's name be made to Smile Train, P.O. Box 96246, Washington, D.C. 20090-6246.