Jack Whiting MacKay Sr.

Mr. MacKay’s professional career spanned 39 productive years at American Cast Iron Pipe Company (ACIPCO), where he served as Vice President and General Sales Manager, on the Board of Management, on the Board of Directors, and as Secretary of the Company. Following his retirement from the company, he worked another 30 years as consultant to his son’s company Caldwell-MacKay.

Throughout his career, ACIPCO credited MacKay’s foresight, innovation and leadership in broadening the company’s product lines and expanding its foreign markets. MacKay convinced management to pursue the production of ductile iron, which positioned ACIPCO as the first commercial producer in United States. This product became “The American Ductile Division” of American Cast Iron Pipe Company. MacKay is credited with ACIPCO’s entry into the production of steel pipe, and the valve & hydrant business. This included the purchase of Fox Steel Pipe Company (Tampa, FL) and the Darling Valve Company (Williamsport, PA). which became “American Steel Pipe” and “American Flow Control”- two divisions of American Cast Iron Pipe Company.

In 1951, MacKay compiled the American Pipe Manual Catalog, which for the first time, included American Standard specification tables for high strength centrifugally cast iron pipe for various water pressures and installation conditions. This catalog became the industry bible for engineers, contractors, water & gas work superintendents, and all other users of cast iron pipe and fittings. MacKay invented, patented, and named the “Fastite” pipe joint, the “Fastite” gasket, and the “Fastite” conductive gasket, used on the majority of ACIPCO’s pipe products. He was the designer of the “Boltless Flexible River Crossing Joint”.

His received wide professional recognition throughout his career and is a published author on steel, cast iron and ductile pipe. For his publication on the “Development and Use of Specifications for Cast Iron Pressure Pipe and Fittings”, he was presented the American Water Works Association National Distribution Award. He co-authored “Pipeline Specifications for Steel Pipe” while serving at the national level of the American Society of Civil Engineers. At the state level, Mr. MacKay wrote the first history of the Alabama section for the Alabama Society of Civil Engineers.

In 1956, the University of Alabama conferred on MacKay the degree of Professional Engineer. He was selected Birmingham Engineer of the Year in 1969. On the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the College of Engineering at the University of Alabama, MacKay was chosen as a Distinguished Engineering Fellow. In 2011, he was inducted into the Alabama Engineering Hall of Fame.

Mr. MacKay was born in Asheville, North Carolina, January 24th, 1910, the son of Emmaline Whiting Walters and Daniel MacNeill MacKay. His father was a pharmacist, founder of MacKay Chemical Company, and one of the first drugstore chain entrepreneurs. Mr. MacKay graduated from Danville Military Academy, Danville, Virginia, attended college at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill and the University of Alabama- completing degrees in both Aeronautical Engineering and in Civil Engineering. He was also a champion pole-vaulter in high

School and at the University of North Carolina, held membership in Tau Beta Pi engineering scholastic honorary and served as a faculty member in the College of Engineering at Alabama. Mr. MacKay was a member of The Country Club of Birmingham, The Club, The Kiwanis Club of Birmingham, The Monday Morning Quarterback Club, Sons of the Revolution, and The St. Andrews’s Society of the Middle South.

A tennis and golf enthusiast, MacKay was a member of “The Rows End” golf group & the “59 Forever” tennis group at the Country Club of Birmingham, and “The Early Bird” tennis group at The Mountain Brook Club. In younger years, both he and his wife were active in symphony and opera endeavors. Mr. MacKay served on the Board of the Birmingham Zoo. MacKay was a member of Shades Valley Presbyterian Church, where he served as a Deacon and Elder.

Mr. MacKay was predeceased by his wife of 73 years, Gweneth Moxley MacKay. He is survived by two sons: Jack Whiting MacKay Jr. (Kaye) of Mt. Pleasant, Texas and Richard MacNeill MacKay (Barrett) of Birmingham; one daughter, Marian MacKay Pfeiffer of Mobile; grandchildren, Christy Lynn Hart (Bret) of Omaha, Texas, Jack Whiting MacKay III (Holly) of Norman, Oklahoma, Mary Katherine Milam (Brandon) of Mt. Pleasant, Texas, Brock MacNeil MacKay (Dr. Carace) of Ft. Thomas, Kentucky, Donald Eubank MacKay of Birmingham, Dr. Ralph Burton Pfeiffer III (Kimberly) of Dothan, and Gweneth Cameron Pfeiffer Traylor (Shane) of Mobile; great-grandchildren: Aline Grace MacKay, Jack Whiting MacKay IV, Brooks Cooper MacKay, Ronald William McKaughan III, Katie Elizabeth Hart, Zachary Brandon Milam, Trenton James Milam, Finley MacNeil MacKay, Lachlan Parmley MacKay, Eleanor MacKay Pfeiffer, Ryan Halstead Pfeiffer; and extended family members.

A private family graveside service will take place at Elmwood Cemetery on the morning of February 24th at 10 am. Pallbearers are: Jack Whiting MacKay Jr., Richard MacNeill MacKay, Brock MacNeil MacKay, Donald Eubank MacKay, Ralph Burton Pfeiffer III and Jack Whiting MacKay III. At 2 PM, a memorial service will take place at Shades Valley Presbyterian Church in Mt. Brook. Following the service, the family will receive friends in the fellowship hall. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that friends and family consider a contribution to: The University of Alabama “Jack Whiting MacKay & Gweneth Moxley MacKay Endowed Scholarship-Civil Engineering”, Box 870200, Tuscaloosa, Alabama 35487.