Milford Hudson McClung's Obituary
Milford Hudson McClung (“Mel”) regretfully died Sunday, February 16, 2020, at age 88, at his home in Fort Myers, Florida, after struggling for 10 years with Parkinson’s. He has left his beloved wife of 64 years, Alice McClung; two children, Michael Webb, of Ft. Myers, and Megan McClung-Hashemi (Shane Hashemi), of Toronto; two grandchildren, both of British Columbia, Cody Hashemi and Emily Hashemi-Garland (Jack Garland), and a great-grandson, Isaac Garland; a brother-in-law, Allen Webb, of Ft. Myers; one surviving sibling, Dorothy Lovett, of Swartz Creek, Michigan; as well as many friends, acquaintances, and former colleagues who have known him fondly and hold him in high regard.
Mel was a resident of Fort Myers since the mid-1980s, and formerly of Lansing, Michigan. He was born in 1931 to Gertrude and Charles Stenger. When he was three weeks old, Gertrude died, and he was brought to live in Flint, with Gertrude’s sister, Nellie, and Nellie’s husband, George McClung. Nellie and George formally adopted him.
Although Mel grew up during the Great Depression, he had fond memories of his childhood. George worked long hours on the Chevrolet production line during World War II, and after the war, he bought an 80-acre farm in Swartz Creek, with nine dairy cows and a bull, using money the family had saved. Every morning before school, Mel’s main job was to milk and feed the cows. After school his job was to clean and bed them down. He helped his dad plant and cultivate crops year round. Some of his fondest memories were of his teenage years on the farm.
Mel’s oldest brother, Richard, was critically injured during the Pearl Harbor attack while serving as a Marine. He spent three years recovering at a military hospital. That event had a major emotional impact on Mel, as did VJ Day, which was on his 14th birthday. Mel’s other brother, Kennard, was also a Marine. A year after graduating high school, Mel enlisted in the Marines.
Shortly before leaving for boot camp at Parris Island, Mel drove to the Webb Nursery in Otterburn, Swartz Creek, to meet Alice Webb (later Alice McClung). When they met, she was 14 and he was 19. He asked her if she would write him while he was away. She said yes, and they wrote to each another often. They would be together for the next 69 years.
In 1952–53, Mel was stationed at the 38th parallel, the boundary that separates North from South Korea today. While on the farm in Swartz Creek, he had learned to operate farm machinery, and that skill now helped him as a heavy equipment operator. He was soon promoted to Sergeant, and he led a team that operated a 155mm Howitzer on the front line. Mel wrote a detailed memoir of his experiences during his service in Korea, and his thoughts about it. The U.S. Library of Congress asked his permission to publish it in their Veterans History Project national database (http://memory.loc.gov/diglib/vhp/bib/loc.natlib.afc2001001.3240).
Mel’s precision fieldwork with artillery in Korea inspired an interest in math and physics, and that influenced him to study mechanical engineering. After marrying Alice in 1956, he worked hard to earn his bachelor’s degree, with GI Bill support, and graduated in 1959. His accomplished career as a mechanical engineer continued for the next 44 years.
The first decade of his career was at General Motors, where he designed the interior instrument clusters for Cadillac cars and Chevrolet/GMC trucks. In 1968, the State of Michigan recruited him for the role of Chief Engineer, Physical Plant, Department of Management and Budget. The job search had attracted candidates from five states. Mel
later said that his experience leading a gunnery team in Korea had been a reason that he was offered the job.
As Chief Engineer, he was responsible for State-owned facilities for Michigan. That included the Capitol and office administration buildings, all universities, prisons, and mental hospitals. During his 20 years in this role, he wrote several articles that were published in professional journals. During the early 1970s, he oversaw pioneering work with an advanced computer system that controlled facilities throughout the state from a command center in Lansing. He helped design and implement computer programs that significantly cut costs and increased efficiency in heating and cooling systems. He was often invited to speak around the US to share the results of his groundbreaking work. His staff included more than 200 people, and he enjoyed the challenge of leading the overall operation. He retired from this role in 1988, but the following year he was invited to be a senior engineering consultant at Michigan State University.
For the next 10 years, he enjoyed using his many decades of experience to carry out specific engineering projects for MSU, and it was during that time that he and Alice began spending more time wintering in Fort Myers. In 1999, they moved there year-round. His last role was a four-year volunteer position as engineering consultant for his homeowners association, where he oversaw building and renovation projects for the 1100 condos.
Throughout his life, Mel enjoyed hobbies that he could keep refining or “honing” (as he put it). That included tinkering as a ham radio operator, and also with rifle hand loading and target practice. He published articles on how to use engineering to achieve greater accuracy on the range. Later, he spent many years applying the same attention to detail in photography. He was one of the first to buy a home computer, and he enthusiastically learned to program it. He was excited about the long-term possibilities of computing and technology, and he talked about that until the end of his life.
After retiring, Mel devoted much time to writing a series of essays that he intended as a legacy for his family and friends. He thought deeply about many subjects. In these essays, he reflected on his life growing up, his feelings and regrets about war, and his career as an engineer. He also delved into topics such as consciousness, mortality, the duality of religion and science, and the physics and nature of time.
Although his work career and hobbies kept him engaged, his fondest memories were always with his family. His love for his wife and children was his truest passion. The years when his children were growing up were full of happy memories for him. He was often singing and whistling tunes during those years. Each summer, he looked forward to taking a vacation with the family, using a camper trailer to visit various parts of the US and Canada. He was happy to live long enough to see the newest member of the family, baby great-grandson Isaac!
“It doesn’t make sense to ask, where will our mind go? The fact is it won’t go anywhere, it will just cease to exist. But our underlying consciousness, being part of the essence of reality, is still there. If there is anything like immortality for us then, it is due to the fact that the very essence of our being is an integral part of a deeper reality, of God.” – Milford H. McClung
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