USA by Tanya Wilson of Hawaii, and had planned to attend nursing school after finishing her reign. Before beginning nursing school, she lived in New York City for a year and modeled with Ford Models. McDonald's high school boyfriend proposed to her in the last months of her reign. Personal life McDonald had three children and four grandchildren at the time of her death. She lived the majority of her life in Dayton, Ohio, with her partner of 37 years Jeffrey Sturgill. They relocated back to Butler County in 2015, where they lived in Sarver. Death In June 2018, McDonald underwent a life-saving double lung transplant at UPMC Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh. She died on January 23, 2020, in a nursing home in Saxonburg, Pennsylvania, from complications related to the surgery. References External links Miss Pennsylvania USA official website Miss USA official website 1952 births 2020 deaths American beauty pageant winners American female models American nurses American women nurses Female models from Pennsylvania Miss Universe 1971 contestants Miss USA winners People from Butler County, Pennsylvania 21st-century American women