Holmes P. 'Mac' McLish

Holmes P. ""Mac"" McLish passed away peacefully on February 3, 2015 at the age of 87. Mac was born in 1928 to Howard Holmes McLish and Corinne Parker McLish in Yuma, Arizona. He and his family moved to Roswell, NM when he was very young. Following his father's death at age 10 and his mother's death at age 12, he was raised by his Aunt Joy and and Uncle J.E. Parker in Post, Texas. After college at Texas Tech, which included a break for service in the Army helping with the reconstruction of Japan, he lived in numerous places in Texas and the South, ultimately settling in Denver, Colorado, where he met his beloved wife Margot, grew a thriving family and built a successful oil and gas business. When he wasn't hard at work at his 16th Street office, Mac could be found on the lawns, tennis courts and waters of Bow Mar, Colorado, where he had a multitude of friends. He took up sailing on Bow Mar lake after he and his buddies built their own Snipes in their garages. Mac loved skiing and spent happy weekends and holidays on the slopes at Vail and any other mountain that promised fresh snow and friends. He and Margot traveled frequently, enjoying many of the wonders of the world and its most beautiful and interesting places. He also liked fly fishing as well as elk and duck hunting. Mac's family ran a dry cleaning business in Roswell. As a teenager, Mac worked in his uncle's bakery in Post. These jobs and others in depression-era West Texas, coupled with a natural born, flinty Scotch demeanor, put Mac on a path of hard-work and thriftiness that paid off in the oil and gas business. He started his geology career in the field, well-sitting all over the Rocky Mountain west. This steeped his science-oriented mind in the practical realities of drilling economics. Backed up with additional ventures in ranching and real estate, Mac eventually transitioned from the field to the boardroom, starting independent but ultimately forming the oil and gas company Flying Diamond with his business friends in Denver. After a number of successful plays, Flying Diamond was sold to Bow Valley of Canada, and Mac took over Bow Valley's US operations. He went fully independent again in 1979 and worked successfully for another 35 years. Mac was known as a ""brilliant"" and ""world renowned"" geologist, and was well known and respected in the oil and gas community in Denver. Mac was active in the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists and American Association of Petroleum Geologists. He also donated his time to Colorado Academy, serving on the Board of Trustees and as Vice President of Finance in the 1980s. He was a devoted family man. He was generous with both resources and spirit to all those that were close to him. In 1963, he charmed his way into the heart of Margot, who was innocently on her way to Los Angeles when her journey was interrupted by a 52-year marriage to Mac. He provided generously to his three kids, Kirsten, Tom and Kendrick, and taught them the life of family, hard work and enjoying the outdoors. Each of his seven grandkids (Ellie, Abbie, Gabrielle, Jennifer, Sadie, Zach and Rose) feel lucky to have such a remarkable grandfather. Along with the rest of his family and friends, they will surely feel his warmth and spirit for the rest of their lives. Donations encouraged in lieu of flowers: Prince of Peace Home for Girls in Guatemala (www.princeofpeacegt.com) or OpenWorld Learning in Denver (www.openworldlearning.org).