Everett Donald Ike"" McKay

Everett Donald “Ike"" McKay, 95, passed away October 15, 2015 in Loveland, Colorado. Ike was born December 13, 1919 on the family farm in Grand Prairie, North Dakota to Whitfield McKay and Pearl Taylor McKay, the 6th son in a loving and close knit family of 9. His elementary and high school years were spent at a consolidated school about a mile from home. Education was always important to the McKays, and upon graduation from high school, Ike was offered a basketball scholarship to attend Valley City State Teachers College. While at college he met the love of his life, Ruth Stoll. During his senior year and with the start of WWII he enlisted in the V-7 Navy Program and was sent to Chicago Midshipman School for officer training. Upon graduation on July 1st, 1943 he was assigned to a minesweeper ship to be stationed in the South Pacific. That same day, Ike and Ruth were married and recently celebrated their 72nd wedding anniversary. Ruth and Ike were always together. They are together again as Ruth passed away July 16th, 2015.

Ike served as executive officer on the YMS293. During the war, his ship was involved in several battles, including Leyte and Okinawa. After his discharge in 1946, he and Ruth returned to Valley City, where he owned a Standard Oil Service Station. In 1955 he returned to his professional training as a teacher, and he and Ruth moved to central Wyoming, where he was a teacher-principal for 6 years. During these years he earned his Master of Education from the University of North Dakota. In 1961 he was hired as the principal of Washington and Whiting Elementary School in Laramie. In the ensuing years Ike was appointed principal of Thayer, Beitel, Slade and Linford Schools. In June, 1980, after 19 years as an elementary principal in Albany County, Ike retired. The speaker at Ike's retirement dinner said “Since 1961 as an administrator in Albany County, you have touched the lives of somewhere between 5,000 and 6,000 school children, and with their parents and teachers added, in excess of 15,000 lives you have touched in your own 'human style'. That's impressive!” Ike's kind and compassionate nature, combined with his dedication to each student, made him a most effective administrator and a popular figure on the playground. He knew every child's name and at some point during his career he began recognizing each child on his/her birthday.

During his tenure in Laramie, Ike held virtually every office in associations that involved elementary administrators at local, district and state levels, including president of the Wyoming Elementary Principals Association, and state representative to the National Elementary Principals Association. After his retirement, Ike continued to serve the educational needs of the state by serving as the first executive director of the Wyoming Association of Elementary School Principals, and as president of the Albany County Retired Teachers. He was a life member of the National Education Association and the Wyoming Congress of Parent-Teachers. Shortly after his retirement, Ike was selected to travel to Russia as a representative of Bridges for Peace, an organization dedicated to peaceful relations between the U. S and U.S.S.R. In 2010, at the age of 90, Ike was thrilled to travel to Washington, D.C. as a member of the Wyoming Honor Flight.

Ike's contract with the school district was on a 10 month basis so his summer employment was with the U.S. Forest Service. This part-time job exceeded 20 years and when he retired from the Forest Service he was honored with a retirement party. His immediate supervisor said, “It is highly unusual to hold a retirement party for a part-timer, but then I don't know many part-timers who have over 20 years of service!”

In 1983 Ike and Ruth began wintering in Tucson, AZ and continued to do so until 2007. He enjoyed the warm winters and the active lifestyle of a snowbird, but always looked forward to returning home to Laramie. Ike was passionate about the Wyoming Cowboys ... he and Ruth had the same football seats for over 50 years. He loved music and would entertain on the harmonica and ukulele at family reunions. He sang for years with the Laramie Barbershop chorus, the Country Gents (in Tucson) and the Melodees from the Eppson Center. Ike delighted in being in the outdoors, was an excellent fisherman, and was proud of climbing Medicine Bow Peak when he was 75. He and Ruth walked every morning and they participated in the Bolder Boulder into their 80's. He loved his strong, black coffee in the morning and a scotch and water in the evening. Ike and Ruth traveled extensively both in and out of the U.S. He volunteered with Meals on Wheels, led the Ranch Tours with the Kiwanis Club for a number of years, and was a lifetime member of the American Legion and the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Ruth and Ike were active members of the First United Methodist Church for over 50 years.

Ike learned the values of kindness, loyalty, respect, hard work and patriotism as a child, and he carried these values throughout his life. He was a humble man and a gentleman. Ike's family meant everything to him, and he meant everything to his family.

Ike was greatly loved and is already missed by his many friends and relatives including daughters Colleen Eastman (Jug) of Brighton, Colorado; Ryn Hahn (Robert) of Plattsmouth, Nebraska; and Stephanie McKay of Longmont, Colorado. He is further survived by 4 grandchildren, Kevin Eastman (Sandi), Amy Mills (Alan), Tim Hahn (Michaela) and Brendt Hahn (Amber); 7 great children, Amber, Alana, Amara, Gwynn, Maelle, Neva and Bram; his brother Hillis (Myra) of St. Charles, Minnesota, and numerous nieces and nephews.

A Celebration of Ike's Life will be held on Saturday, October 31, 2015 @ 2:00 p.m. at the First United Methodist Church in Laramie, with a reception to follow. Donations may be made to the National Museum of the Pacific War or to the capital building fund for First United Methodist Church.

Condolences for the family can be sent to Stephanie McKay, 807 Gay Street, Longmont, CO 80501.