Lynn Stirling McLean 1942-2016
Lynn Stirling McLean. P. Eng. Lynn passed peacefully on March 19, 2016, his family at his side, following a fearless battle with cancer. He is survived by his beloved partner, Joan Parkins, and her children whom he loved, and who loved him, Christina, Diana and Steve, and by his brother Ross (Candis), nephews Stuart (Adelheide) and Steven (Irena), great nephews Robert and Benjamin McLean, as well as cousin Barbara (Allan) Jones and Keith (Caroline) Grest and children.
Lynn was born in Rosetown to Neil and Myrtle McLean, the first of three boys. Brothers Ross and Grant would arrive in 1944 and 1948. In 1965 Lynn graduated from the University of Saskatchewan with a degree in Civil Engineering. As an engineering student, he analyzed soil stability characteristics of the site where Place Riel Theatre now sits. By spring 1969, his engineering and computer programming skill had taken him to Toronto and Boise, Idaho. When his father had a stroke, Lynn returned to Zealandia to take over operation of the family farm, he would continue for the next 45 years. Of all his remarkable accomplishments, Lynn was most proud of the successful farm operation he built, his life's work. He loved this land and strove always to make it a better place.
Later in life he was a world traveler with an encyclopedic knowledge of the global economy, the stock market, and the banking system, and a mechanic of rare gifts, who could keep the oldest equipment running against all reason. Lynn was many things to many people: a caring, responsible employer, a gifted, perceptive co-worker with an ever-fresh approach to complex problems; a coach, an advisor of endless patience; a source of strength and assurance in the most difficult moments. He was a fearless, aggressive, persistent advocate for those less able to assert themselves, and a rock-solid, loyal, generous friend with a dry sense of humour who was always, always there.
From his obituary, published in the Saskatoon Star Phoenix March 26, 2016.