Philip Edward "Phil" MacDonald, 70, of Quincy, Massachusetts, died unexpectedly on September 24, 2026, surrounded by his family, just four days before his 71st birthday.

Phil had a way about him. He could talk to anyone, and within minutes he made you feel welcome. He treated everyone with kindness and respect. Phil remembered everything. He was full of stories and had a dad joke for every occasion, and his lifelong love of goofy humor meant there was no one he couldn’t make smile. He was always well dressed no matter the occasion. A meticulous man who measured twice (or even three times) before cutting once, he lived by the belief that where there’s a will, there’s a way, and he was always looking for new ways to "sharpen the saw" and improve himself. Phil had a lot of love to give, and he made sure anyone new to the family felt at home.

Born in Portland, Maine, on September 28, 1955, Phil was the son of the late James and Anna (Quinlan) MacDonald. He grew up in the Red Bank neighborhood of South Portland. In his youth, Phil developed a love of art and architectural design and had a gift for mathematics, and together those led him to civil engineering.

He earned an associate degree in building construction from Southern Maine Vocational Technical Institute, receiving his class’s Golden Hammer award. He then moved to Quincy to attend Wentworth Institute of Technology in Boston, living with his Aunt Flora in the house where she and his father had grown up. He didn’t know it then, but he would become that old family home’s faithful, lifelong caretaker. After earning an associate degree in architectural engineering from Wentworth, he went on to earn both his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in civil engineering from the University of Lowell. He became a licensed Professional Engineer and was later welcomed as a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers.

In 1984, Phil joined the Massachusetts Highway Department, beginning a 35-year career with MassHighway and MassDOT that spanned construction, bridge design, and geotechnical engineering projects. He spent a decade on Boston’s Central Artery Project, the Big Dig, and it remained one of the proudest achievements of his life. He finished his career as a project manager at the MBTA.

Growing up, Phil learned to sail from his father, and with it the patience that sailing requires. As a young man he loved skiing in the winters and waterskiing in the summers, playing basketball with his brother and friends, and later playing softball with his coworkers at MassHighway. He’d frequently go for runs along the Charles and around the common on his lunch break, and he kept up exercising and hitting the gym for the rest of his life.

Phil always said the best chapter of his life began when he met Angela. Both working in downtown Boston, they had many lunch dates, attended concerts, and took vacations and cruises together. They quickly became soulmates and were married on October 18, 1997. They had a language all their own, and Phil never missed a birthday, anniversary, or holiday, slipping out early in the morning for a card, chocolates, and a dozen roses. One of Phil’s many life goals was to build a home of his own to raise his family in. Over many years, working on it in his free time alongside his courses and his day job, he built that house right next door to his father’s old family home. When their second son was on the way, Phil and Angela left their one-bedroom condo in Hull and moved into the house he had built. They raised their family there, and it was his home for the rest of his life.

As a father, Phil worked to give his two sons every opportunity that he could. He coached as many of their teams as possible, often staying late after practices and games so they and their teammates could get extra swings in the batting cage, or rebounding their shots in the gym. As his sons grew older, he could count on one hand the number of games he missed. He loved going on vacation with his family: summer weekends at their house in Bridgton, Maine, and days on Sebago Lake with his siblings, their families, and friends; an annual week at the beach in Charlestown, Rhode Island, with Angela’s family; and trips to Longboat Key, Florida, for warmer weather, Disney World, and Red Sox spring training.

Phil was a lifelong Boston sports fan who cheered on the Red Sox, Celtics, and Patriots through every season, and never let his sons forget how lucky they were to be born into the Tom Brady era in New England. He was also a devoted amateur genealogist who meticulously built out both his and Angela’s family trees, and that passion took them to Scotland, where he tracked down the school his great-grandfather attended as a young boy. Phil was a classic rock fan who loved everything from The Who to The Beatles. He and Angela spent many summer nights at the South Shore Music Circus. Phil was proud of his handiness. From plumbing to woodwork to painting and even roofing, there was no project too big for him to take on himself, and if he needed an extra hand, he called family first, not a contractor.

Above all, Phil loved his family completely, and he’d do anything to support any of them. A man with a heart of gold, he rarely said no when family or friends needed help.

He is survived by his beloved wife of nearly 29 years, Angela (Midura) MacDonald; his sons, James MacDonald and his fiancée, Sara Bryn, and John MacDonald; his sister, Ellen (MacDonald) Broy; his brother-in-law, David Blanchard; his sister-in-law, Jane MacDonald; his mother-in-law, Gayle Midura; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Louis and Patricia Midura; and many nieces, nephews, grand-nieces, and grand-nephews. He was predeceased by his parents, James and Anna (Quinlan) MacDonald; his brother, James “Jimmy” MacDonald; his sister, Patricia “Trisha” (MacDonald) Blanchard; and his brother-in-law, Herbert Broy Jr.

Relatives and friends are respectfully invited to greet the family during the visiting hours on Friday 10/9/2026 from 4-8 PM in the Keohane Funeral Home, 785 Hancock St., QUINCY. A Funeral Home Service will be celebrated on Saturday 10/10/2026 at 11 AM. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that you perform a random act of kindness in Phil’s memory or consider a donation to the American Heart Association.