Dr. Michael McKay, 1959-2007

On Friday, the day I was bitching about some stupid advent calendar in Germany, one of the best people in the world was killed. His name wont appear on the front page of the post, he wasn’t a star quarterback or runningback. He was just a man. Except that he was also a veteran of two wars, a father, a teacher, and a friend.

On Friday, December 7, 2007 Dr. Michael McKay was killed in a car accident along with his mother in law. His beloved wife Cathy was also in the car and is currently in critical condition at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center. He is survived by two grown sons and his wife.

I knew Dr. McKay because he taught psych and I had to take psych to fulfill a degree requirement. I had already taken one psych class (the requirement was for 2), and had squeaked by with a C. Therefore I was not looking forward to the month long J-Term Psych class my sophomore year. When Dr. McKay walked in, I immediately fell in love with him. He was a huge bear of a man with a pony tail and a beard. I thought instantly of my father and had an urge to give this man a hug. I resisted of course. Who hugs their professors on the first day of class?

He taught with enthusiasm and a sense of whimsy. That sounds like a sound byte from someone who barely knew him and is trying to put their two cents in. Well, that can’t be helped. He did do those things. The class was the Psychology of Language, so everyday there was a new “word of the day” that could pop up on quizzes. The bonus question on the final was “name the seven dwarves”.

I saw him around campus often, he was probably close to 6 and a half feet tall and over 300 pounds. But not fat, just…big. He wore Hawaiian shirts and always kept the beard (though the pony tail eventually left). You could hear him laugh down the hall, he had one of those big Santa Claus laughs. He was in plays and always helped students. His office was packed. It wasn’t a big office to begin with, but Dr. McKay filled it with books and toys and two giant Lazy-Boys. Those hard wooden chairs for students weren’t his style, LazyBoys were. To go and visit Dr. McKay was to take a break. Play with wind up toys and sit in a chair that automatically reclined, whether you wanted it to or not.

He played the character Jackrum in the schools production of “Monstrous Regiment”, a great part for him as the character is huge and jolly and a military man. For those of you who don’t know the story Dr. McKay would tell you to read the book!

When I think of Dr. McKay it will always be well. There was never a moment in my experiences with him that left a bad taste in my mind. I will remember him sitting at the faculty lunch table, 9 of them squeezed around a table for 4, and Dr. McKay looming over the rest of them like a jolly bear. I will remember his Hawaiian shirts that he wore even in the winter to brighten the grey days. I will remember his laugh that seemed to come out of his socks. I will remember his stories about the navy and his sons, told with such enthusiasm and love. I have no memory of him in which he is not smiling. In my memory he has a permanent grin and is on the verge of laughter.

Dr. McKay was a great person, and a good friend. The world is a little darker without him. He will be missed.