McClellan “Mac” Gordon Blair MA, Ph.D. was born October 20, 1938, son of David Hall Blair and Elinor Reinhardt Gordon Blair. He was a 1956 graduate of Phillips Andover Academy where he captained the rifle team. He attended Yale University, graduating in 1960 with degrees in Physics, Mathematics and Chemistry. At Yale, he earned 7 varsity letters in football, track, and rifle. He captained the rifle team for 2 years and won the Ivy League championship in 1960. He received a scholarship and fellowship to study Physics at the University of Rochester, where he earned master’s and Ph.D. Degrees.
In 1960, Mac and Britta Louise Nesbitt were married. While Mac pursued his doctoral degree in Physics at the University of Rochester, their first three children were born: Elizabeth Hall Blair Wallwork, b. 1961, Christina Reinhardt Blair Lubold, RN, MD, b. 1963, Janet Nesbitt Blair West, b. 1965. Their fourth child James Gordon Blair b. 1970, was born subsequent to the couple’s return to Indiana.
After receiving his Ph.D. and moving back to Indiana, Mac was employed by Atlantic Richfield Corp. at its NUMEC (Nuclear Materials and Equipment Co.) Energy Conversion Division. When ARCO divested of NUMEC, he was retained in the renamed ARCO Medical Co. as the project manager for the development of a nuclear-powered cardiac pacemaker contracted through the Atomic Energy Commission. He was also Program Manager for the development of a radioisotope-powered artificial heart through a contract with the National Institutes of Health. He testified before Congress as an expert witness on the status of artificial heart devices and was a representative of the Department of Commerce technical trade mission to Vienna, Prague, Budapest, and Warsaw. He led the development of ALVAD (Abdominal Left Ventricular Assist Device) and instructed thoracic surgeons in major cardiac clinics both in the US and abroad in its application in clinical settings. Mac’s final position with ARCO was Chief Engineer of the ARCO Environmental Co. where he was charged with the design, development and permitting of novel commercial wastewater treatment facilities. Later, ARCO Environmental became Aqueonics, Inc., a privately-owned business. He served as Chief Engineer and Director of Technical Services and in this capacity, designed over 200 water and wastewater treatment facilities in 6 states and supervised design, construction, and operation.
He was a lifelong member of Calvary Presbyterian Church, where he served as Trustee. As a youth he became an Eagle Scout, and later became Scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 29, and was awarded the Scoutmaster’s Key. He was a lifelong stamp collector and was a member of the American Philatelic Society, Philatelic Literature Association, and the Bureau Issues Association (now United States Stamp Society) where he was a member of its Committee on Luminescence. Mac was also an antique auto enthusiast, especially for 1932 Buicks. He was a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America where he was a past president of its Punxsutawney Region and a nationally accredited judge at more than 100 national meets. Mac was a member of the Buick Club of America, where he served as Chief Judge from 1989 through 2001, Chair of Judges’ Training from 2002-2011, authored its Judging Handbook, now in its 5th printing, and served as Head Judge at 5 national meets.
Mac is survived by his wife, children, and their spouses, 11 of his 12 grandchildren: Britta Pate, Alexander, and James and his wife Adrianne Wallwork, Anthony, Elizabeth, and Michael Lubold, David and his wife Jenny, and Eric West, and Matthew, Isabella, and Emma Blair. He is also survived by great grandchildren Emmylou, Zella, Weston, and Waylan Pate. Grandson Weston Boone Wallwork died in 2005.
Friends will be received by the family on Friday, March 24, 2023, from 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM and from 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM at the Bowser Minich Funeral Home, Indiana, where a funeral service will be held at 11:00 AM on Saturday, March 25, 2023, with Reverend David Hanna Officiating. Private burial will be in Oakland Cemetery, Indiana.
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