Ian Wendell Mackay

IAN MACKAY OBITUARY

Ian Mackay was an adventure loving, speed driving, prank playing soul inside a meticulously dressed,constantly smiling face with gorgeously combed hair. He was also one of the kindest, most loving, gentle father and friend. No matter where he went, he spoke to and connected with people–at church, at work, at the grocery store, on the walking path. wherever.

One of his great loves and obsessions was to drive. He obtained a drivers licence when he was 13 ½ even though he could barely see through the steering wheel. From that moment on he never quit driving. He drove over paved roads, dirt roads, gravel roads, and places with no roads at all. His family endured having to back down a steep dirt road on the side of a cliff in the family station wagon when the entrance was clearly marked Off Road Vehicles Only.

As the children grew to be teenagers, Ian was especially understanding of the boyish fixes Bret, Ron, or Paul would get themselves into. While Floy Daun would get very upset, Ian was calm and thoughtful, assisting in helping them extract themselves from the difficulty. Although he loved going with Shauna to Daddy Daughter events, the whole family, Floy Daun and Shauna included, were expected to participate in scouting type activities, especially hiking.

As the children grew older Ian organized Saturdays to get work completed quickly so they could spend the afternoon at a park. He studied maps of Orange County and took his family to a different park as many Saturday afternoons as they could.

Ian was a man of great faith. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. He believed in the powers God gave to man to take care of his family. He gave blessings to his children whenever they requested one, or suggested blessings when he felt they needed that extra help from Heavenly Father. He was available to them whenever he was at home–in the day or anytime in the night. He gave each child a blessing before the beginning of each school year. The blessings were clearly very individual. He also gave blessings to people who were not members of his family. Heavenly Father followed those blessings with miraculous directions or healings both physical and spiritual.

Ian was a man of honor. In all of his employment he was in charge of finance. At one time he worked for a manufacturing company. At a meeting the CEO announced a plan he had. Company Attorneys in attendance agreed with the plan. Ian became very distressed as the plan was both unethical and dishonest. Ian was told if he didn’t carry out the plan he would be dismissed. He couldn’t do it. He really loved his job, but he talked the situation over with his wife and they decided no matter the consequences, he would not do something dishonest. That night he prayed for the Lord to bless him. He expected the Lord to comfort and sustain him in losing his job. But in the middle of the night, Ian woke up with an idea for a plan that would obtain the desired results and be perfectly ethical and honest. He was astonished. It was a brilliant plan. When he presented it to the group they were astonished. That was the plan they used, and Ian retained his honor.

Ian thought everything ought to be fun or have some fun associated with it. When he was in charge of activities one summer at college he sponsored a watermelon throwing contest. When he taught 6th grade he sponsored marble shooting contests for the boys and jacks contests for the girls. He sponsored an essay contest, and the winner got her picture in the local paper. He sponsored a kite making contest. He decided to enter the contest himself and spent hours making a huge kite. He was so proud of it, but when he took it outside it was so big, the minute the wind hit it, it broke.

Few people knew Ian was a skilled woodworker. In Tujunga Ian built his children an entire play area–a fort with a loft, a fireman’s pole, and a slide that ended in a huge sandbox. When Shauna was close to 3 years old, Ian made her a complete child sized kitchen including a stove with burner knobs and an oven door that opened and closed, a refrigerator, and a sink with water spouts and knobs. When he became the grandfather to four little girls, he made each of them a beautiful doll cradle that rocked. He crafted things for the boys, too.

When Ian became a grandfather he also became an incredibly interesting bedtime story teller. Many of the stories to the boys were true stories of his encounters with snakes. He encountered snakes in the wilderness as one might expect, but he also encountered snakes in the city. When his oldest grandson was 8 and eligible to join the scouts, he didn’t want to at first because he was sure that would mean constantly encountering snakes.

Ian’s favorite calling in the church was with the young men. He loved taking them on “High Adventures.” The first year they rafted down the Green River (Ian described it as a hundred miles of trackless wilderness). That was followed by “The Death March” in scorching hot weather down the Grand Canyon. Then Red’s Meadows. Every year it was somewhere different, exciting, challenging and talked about endlessly.

Recently a young man who had been in Ian’s Young Men’s classes came to visit. He told Floy Daun that there were six young men in those classes who were on the cusp of making life’s decision to walk the narrow path or take a few side roads. He said they decided they wanted to be like Ian, and that meant doing the right things, and being the right kind of person.

Ian never said an unkind word about anyone. Ian loved everyone he met and everyone who knew him loved him. He was greatly loved by his wife and his sons, Bret Alan, Ronald Ian, Paul Ryan, and a daughter, Shauna Daun. He died March 31, 2026.