Colette 		Colette MacDonald was born and raised in Patchogue, NY, and had known Jeff MacDonald since grade school.  They dated as teenagers, and married  in the fall of 1963. Colette attended two years at Skidmore College; her first priority was being a  loving wife and mother.  She had an intuitive sense about people, and a wry sense of humor.  She enjoyed the arts, music, movies and reading, and continued taking classes while the family lived in Chicago, and then North Carolina.  She hoped to get a degree in English Literature, and possibly be a teacher someday.   She was pregnant with the family's third child at the time of her murder.

  

Kimberley MacDonald (1969)

Kimberley MacDonald, who was born in April, 1964, was Colette and Jeff's first child.  Reserved and less outgoing than her little sister, Kim was a good student who attended school on post at Fort Bragg, and is remembered by her family as a very bright student and loving, gentle child -  a little girl who loved to read and draw.

Kristen MacDonald (1969) 		Kristen MacDonald was born in May, 1967. Kristen was very much the tomboy, very outgoing and precocious.  She loved animals, sliding boards and birthday parties, and was a joy to all who knew her. She was a very active child and loved the outdoors.

Jeff MacDonald (1963) 		Jeffrey MacDonald grew up in Patchogue, New York, where he and Colette met and eventually married. Kim was born while the family was in New Jersey, where Jeff attended Princeton University. Kristen was born while Jeff attended medical school at Northwestern University in Chicago.  The family then moved to Fort Bragg, NC., where Jeff became a group surgeon in the Special Forces (Green Berets).  He and Colette were looking forward to the birth of their third child at the time of the murders.