HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – Visitation for Albert McDonald, former state senator, agriculture commissioner and Auburn University trustee from Madison, is scheduled for Wednesday evening.

McDonald's family will receive friends from 5-8 p.m. at Laughlin Service Funeral Home, 2320 Bob Wallace Ave., Huntsville. The funeral service will be held at 11 a.m. Thursday at First United Methodist Church in downtown Huntsville.

McDonald died Sunday at age 83.

Albert McDonald in October 2002. (File photo)

Born into a farming family in Dayton, Tenn., McDonald graduated from Auburn University in 1953 and launched his own agriculture career the following year.

While growing cotton, soybeans and grain on his Huntsville-area farm, McDonald also represented farmers across the state on various issues.

He was a member of the National Cotton Council and became involved in efforts to eradicate the boll weevil.

McDonald added politics to his impressive resume in 1974 when he was elected to the Alabama Senate, where he would represent the Huntsville area for two terms.

According to his obituary, McDonald was a "positive force" in state government who sponsored numerous bills to benefit rural Alabamians.

In 1982, he was elected to the first of two terms as state Commissioner of Agriculture and Industries. In 1991, President George Bush tapped McDonald to serve as executive director of the Alabama Farm Services Administration.

Four years later, he became a member of Huntsville Hospital's governing board. In 1996, Gov. Fob James selected McDonald for a seat on the powerful Auburn University Board of Trustees.

Former Huntsville Mayor Loretta Spencer said McDonald "helped us in so many ways" both during and after his state Senate career.

As Cummings Research Park West boomed in the 1990s, city officials saw the need to create an attached retail area for defense and aerospace contractors. The initial plan to put shopping and restaurants beside Adtran unraveled when the company said it needed that land for a second office building.

Spencer said Huntsville turned to McDonald, who agreed to sell the city his 100-acre farm off Old Madison Pike.

The old McDonald place is now Bridge Street Town Center.

Spencer said McDonald was also part of the behind-the-scenes effort that almost brought Volkswagen to Huntsville in 2008.

The German automaker was considering building its first U.S. factory in the annexed portion of Limestone County. McDonald owned land nearby and offered it to Huntsville for future elementary and middle schools, said Spencer.

"Schools were very important to Volkswagen, because they knew a lot of their employees would want to live near the site," Spencer said Monday. "Albert was right there at the table with us on the VW project. We could not have competed without his help."

McDonald's son Stan McDonald served two years as Limestone County probate judge. His son-in-law is Congressman Robert Aderholt.

He is also survived by his wife of 58 years, Shirley Shields McDonald; son Mark Russell McDonald; daughters Caroline McDonald Aderholt and Leah McDonald Engler; and 14 grandchildren.

The family requests that contributions be made to Madison United Methodist Church, 127 Church Street, Madison, AL, 35758; The American Cancer Society, 3000 Bob Wallace Ave. SW, Huntsville, AL, 35805; or The Huntsville Hospital Foundation, 101 Sivley Road SW, Huntsville, AL, 35801.