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Does anyone know what became of Donald Duck?s parents? What I know about Donald would at least fill up a thimble, but I read somewhere that---for whatever reason---he was raised by Grandma Duck, and somehow or other his parents and his sister disappeared into the mist?
With my brain full of the events of Lto$, I think what I lamented the most about Don Rosa hanging it up (besides no more new stories) was the prospect that we would never get "closure" about Donald?s parents---Hortense in particular. Of course, this has cleared the way for fan-fiction writers to reach their own conclusions, but still?
Just for the heck of it, does anyone have any information and/or ideas about what happened to Donald Duck?s family, including his sister? I know some of this stuff has been speculated about for some time, but I'm up for it if anyone else is. :)

I think they probably died.

this is from a email i send to don rosa 2 years ago
>>>>why hortence and quakmore apear so few times? ... they are death or what ?
I guess they are dead.

Quote from user: Roger NorthI think they probably died.
That seems to be a general consensus among Disney comic fans. I think Don Rosa was hoping to
resolve that question in A Letter From Home, or: The Old Castle's Other Secret, as he explains
in the commentary for that comic:

"...Scrooge's relationship with his two sisters (both of them Barks characters, derived from his notes) is a sad situation I established back in chapter 11 of my 'Life of Scrooge' series but which has never really been resolved. The first problem that cropped up with this idea, however, is that I was told I could not involve Donald's mother Hortense in the tale because I would then be compelled to explain just where she's been for 25 years and why she would abandon her family back in Duckburg. Admittedly, this was a problem to which I saw no easy or pleasant answer, so I agreed I should use only sister Matilda in the tale. Perhaps someday I'll be allowed to tell something more about Hortense's life (if I can think of something), but not for now."

Of course, that still leaves questions as to Quackmore's fate, along with the sketchy details of H, D & L's parentage. One of my fellow fanfic writers suggests that Donald's father served in the Navy and was killed in action, and that Hortense died of heart failure years later. But if Donald was raised by Grandma Duck, then his mother died---or disappeared---while still a young woman. The Wikipedia article says Hortense "took off for parts unknown"; I don't know where that bit of info came from, but I find it hard to believe she simply abandoned her children like that.

Meanwhile, since it appears that Rosa won't be able to get any further with the scenario, it now remains for another Disney artist to (hopefully) supply that last piece of the puzzle.

Quote from user: FuriennaDonald's sister, who's also the mother of Huey, Dewie and Louie, was originally named "Dumbella". It was later changed to the nicer-sounding "Della". But no one knows where she is, and we know even less about Huey's, Dewie's and Louie's father. But I once read that his name was Daniel.
I remember Donald's sister was called "Dumbella" in the cartoon Donald's Nephews, where we see the triplets for the first time, and "Della" (as used in the comics) certainly did sound nicer. And there was an incident early in the comics where the boys' father went to the hospital after they lit a firecracker and put it under his chair; but this is the first I've heard of his name. Thanks for that bit of info. :)

Quote from user: Asger AndHere's my 'theory' from 'Ande-Aner':
Donald Duck himself is son of Scrooges younger sister and Elviras oldest son. In the cartoon ?The Little Wise Hen?? from 1934 he seemed very young, but in 1936 when he appeared in the comic strip ?Silly Symphonies?? by Al Taliaferro he seemed quite grown-up, at least he lived alone and was old enough to take care of his three little nephews. In YD 1947-06-10 we are informed, that he went to school in 1935, so I reckon, he is born (hatched) about 1920, which fits fine with a father born about 1900, and his mother can easily be 20 years younger than her brother Scrooge. Donalds parents died before he was 5 or 6 years old, where after he moved to the farm. He didn?t care about the hard work, though, and moved away from home as soon as he could make it on his own.

Below is an exerpt from a very obscure source, a DD-obituary in Mad Magazine ca. 1966:
(Donald) Duck was born in a marsh near Chilicothe, Ohio. He became an orphan at the age of five when his parents, Exeter and Mamie Duck, strayed too close to a pillow factory.

Of course both are no more reliable than any fan-fiction, although they were written quite some years ago
And considering that it came from Mad Magazine, of course. ;) But still, it makes you think. I'd like to have read that issue, though---I was 5 years old when that one came out.

Quote from user: Asger AndQuote Furienna: "I once read that his name was Daniel." Where, please, if you remember?
It was on a site called "Yesterdayland", that closed down five or six years ago. I don't know where the person, who wrote that, had gotten that info.

Marco Rota wrote and drew a long comic book story on Donald's life for his 50th birthday in 1984, which showed that as an egg, Donald fell out of his tree nest, and was found by Uncle Scrooge and Grandma Duck, and adopted and raised by them (Grandma doing the day-to-day work of raising him, and Scrooge paying for it).
It was produced by Mondadori (Italian Disney). Here is the Dutch printing (Cover and Donald's adoption):
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9185/ddeitoteendhx1.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/2254/ddeitoteend2rr9.jpg
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/8948/ddeitoteend3jm8.jpg