Henry “Hank/Mac” G.L. McCullough, III—August 5, 1939—February 24, 2020
Hank came to our class in fall 1957 after graduating from Waukegan (Illinois) High School. Living in Dibble Hall all four years, he was on the varsity teams for basketball and track (shot put, high jump, low hurdles and relay teams). In June 1961, he was awarded his B.A. degree in Physics. In recent years, he served as our Class Agent.
After Grinnell, he completed graduate studies at the University of Arizona in nuclear science and engineering. From 1962-65 he was a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force stationed at Sandia Air Force Base, where he married the love of his life, Princess S. Naro, on November 7, 1962. They shared over 57 years of happy married life with daughters Jeanine, Amanda, and Ruth along with sons Darrell Walker, Bill Nelson, and David and later with three grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
Hank had a distinguished career in nuclear science and engineering with NASA in Greenbelt, MD; Kitts Peak National Laboratory in Tucson, AZ; The Babcock & Wilcox Company’s Atomic Energy Division in Columbia, MD; and Philco-Ford Corporation in Columbia, MD, where he was a principal nuclear consultant to the U.S. and Global Electric Generating Industry.
He was a registered professional engineer in IL, WI and IN. He was elected and served two terms as the director of the Council on Energy Independence and is listed in Marquis’ Who’s Who in the Midwest (21st edition) and Who’s Who in Engineering and Science. Hank also served as a nuclear energy advisor to President Ronald Reagan, Vice President George W. Bush Sr. and Congressman John Edward Porter (Rep., IL). In addition, he was a member of the recognized firm of Sargent & Lundy as quality assurance engineering supervisor for several operating nuclear plants and other such plants under modification.
Somehow, Hank found time to be a member of his local Board of Education and Assistant District Commissioner for the Boy Scouts of America as well as a Professor at Ivy Tech Community College in Elkhart, IN, 2002-06.
Mac and Princess were members of St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, IN and of its choir. He also was a member of the Fr. J.A. Nieuwland General Assembly, an organization honoring the work of Father J.A. Nieuland, a former professor of botany and organic chemistry at the University of Notre Dame.
Mac is survived by Princess, his loving wife of 57 years; daughters Jeanine R. (Larry) Palazzi and Amanda McCullough; sons Darrell Walker and Bill Nelson (Sheila); three grandchildren; eight great-grandchildren; sister Josephine Luella Murphey; and brother-in-law Dennis R. (Nancy) Dash. Mac was preceded in death by daughter Ruth McCullough, son David McCullough, a sister, and two brothers.
Duane W. Krohnke
