Wife of PR executive McDonald dies

Tuesday, Sept. 1, 1998 | 11:04 a.m.

Darlene McDonald, wife of Las Vegas publicist Herb McDonald, died in a traffic accident on Sunday.

McDonald, 53, had stopped about 3 p.m. near Richfield, Utah, to help children trapped in a Suburban which had rolled over on Interstate 70, her husband said. A truck coming around a curve in the road then struck her.

"My best friend ever is gone," McDonald said, after traveling to Salt Lake City from Las Vegas on a flight delayed by Sunday's fierce thunderstorms. Doctors at the LDS Hospital there worked for five hours in a desperate effort to save his wife's life, he said.

McDonald said he met Darlene when she sang under the stage name of Masako at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel on Waikiki in Honolulu 33 years ago. She sang with Hawaiian entertainer Don Ho and Andy Williams, and later became a housewife when she married McDonald.

Darlene McDonald was a founder of the Meadows School, the non-sectarian private school in Summerlin.

In addition to singing, Darlene McDonald loved to hike and ski.

She was born in Honolulu on Oct. 20, 1943.

A viewing has been set from noon to 8 p.m. Thursday at Palm Mortuary on Jones and Oakey boulevards. A rosary will be recited at 7 p.m.

A funeral mass has been scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at Our Lady of Las Vegas Catholic Church on Alta and Campbell drives.

In addition to her husband, Darlene is survived by her daughter, Kimberly, a stepson Greg and a stepdaughter Cheryl, all of Las Vegas; her father, Stanley Yoshimoto of Las Vegas; a sister, Joanne Yamada, and two brothers Calvin and Rodney Yoshimoto, all of Honolulu.

Palm Mortuary is handling the funeral arrangements in Las Vegas along with Larkin Mortuary of Salt Lake City.