NORTH CAPE MAY — Oscar MacDonald's very best friends hid in the tall grass and watched his memorial service from afar.
More than 30 of his human friends gathered closer, remembering MacDonald as the "Cat Man" who spent every day of his life for the past 18 years at Douglass Park, next to the Cape May-Lewes Ferry terminal, feeding and caring for his four-legged friends.
His car, an aging Ford Taurus station wagon, also was part of the April 7 memorial service. On the windshield was a poster with photos of MacDonald.
Cats crawled in and out of the well-worn car each day during MacDonald's life, and, before the service, one tabby hopped into the vehicle to escape the biting wind.
Villas resident Bill Dietrich said he considered MacDonald as one of his best friends, having known him for 20 years.
"I'm going to miss him down here, me and the cats, and a lot of people," said Dietrich.
MacDonald spent plenty of his own meager funds on cat food. He also received some donations from individuals and from the North Cape May Acme Market, which sent a number of bags of cat chow to the service.
Dietrich said MacDonald lived in an apartment and could not keep any pets at home.
Jim Richter, who knew MacDonald for 22 years, said that MacDonald originally went to the park to fish but became devoted to the feral cats. Richter said MacDonald tended the cats in the park even on holidays and in all weather.
"If this canal was frozen solid, he was here," said Richter. "He was a real gentleman and really nice guy."
Lower Township Animal Control Officer Don Montgomery called MacDonald dedicated. He said MacDonald was in the park every day from 2:30 p.m. until 10 p.m.
"Each and every cat was named," said Montgomery.
James Dietrich, a retired Lower Township police officer, recalled stopping while on patrol to chat with MacDonald and once sharing a Christmas Eve dinner with him.
"Oscar was a good set of eyes and ears out here at the canal," he said.
Dietrich said MacDonald was a quiet man who did not talk about himself.
Mary Conover, who trapped cats for the neuter-and-release program for 15 years, said the cats lost the best friend they ever had with the passing of MacDonald. She theorized MacDonald loved animals, but was also a lonely man.
She said volunteers would keep tending the cats at the park.
The memorial service featured a bagpiper, a fitting tribute for someone with the Scottish name MacDonald.
An honor guard presented an American flag to MacDonald's niece, Dawn Weaver.
Weaver told the Herald that MacDonald was born in Philadelphia in 1928 and was from a family of five boys and two girls. He worked for Westinghouse, and had a cornea replaced after being hit with a metal shard.
Weaver said MacDonald served as a medic in the Army during the Korean War. He moved to Cape May in the early 70s.
She said he began feeding the cats fish that he caught since he did not like fish.
MacDonald was diagnosed with liver cancer in December.
"We all know how he loved our little furry friends and our community," said Debbie Houchins. "I am forever, forever going to miss Oscar."
She said he visited the Acme Market three times a day and also will be missed there.
When Houchins called for a moment of silence, those in attendance could hear MacDonald's world – filled with the sounds of the bay, the foghorn, seagulls and passing ferries. All that was missing was a meow.
While a black-and-white cat viewed the service from the dune grass, apparently frightened by all the activity, MacDonald became one with the cats:  his ashes were scattered in the tall grass where his beloved felines hid.
Contact Fichter at (609) 886-8600 Ext 30 or at: jfichter@cmcherald.com