Doug McLean’s son Matthew notified Bob Hills that sadly Doug had passed away peacefully at the age of 65 on the 13th of October, 2021, in Chilliwack, BC surrounded by his family.

From Bob Hills:

Doug McLean passed away 13 Oct 2021, following a three-year struggle with PSP - Progressive Supranuclear Palsy – an incurable degenerative disease that causes increasingly more severe problems with balance, coordination, and cognitive ability. He is survived by his wife, Rejeanne, and their children Matthew and Sarah. 

Doug hailed from the North Bay, Ontario area, the son of Wilfred and Margaret McLean, and oldest brother to Brian, Carole-Ann, and Shelley. The family moved from Hearst to Callandar when he was a child. The 6th most famous person from Callandar, immediately behind the Dionne Quintuplets, Doug claimed to be actually third, ahead of three of the quintuplets. He arrived at RMC Kingston in August 1975, where he was assigned to 5 Sqn, N Flight. Doug was one of only two Artsmen among the N Flight Rooks, impressing the wanna-be engineers and applied science types with his collection of books that didn’t come with crayons. Remaining in Fort Champlain, Doug moved upstairs to 6 Sqn for his next two years, and was appointed CSTO in 4th year. Doug became president of the RMC Wargames Club, and remained an active and highly competitive board and computer gamer for the rest of his life. He graduated in 1979 with a degree in Honours History, and after grad remained long-time friends with Peter Dennis and Ron Haycock, both former History professors at RMC.

Doug was a MARS officer, spending much of his operational time with the West Coast (MARPAC) fleet. While on a port visit to Vancouver in 1981, he was on-duty during the ship’s “open to the public” PR day. One of the visitors, who had been reluctantly dragged down to the port by one of her friends to “see the big boats”, was Rejeanne Boissonneault.  Doug and Rejeanne were wed exactly one year later (Doug claimed to only want to have to remember one Anniversary date). As a reward for his hardship tour on the West Coast, in 1984 Doug and his bride were posted to Argentia Newfoundland, where Rejeanne commented that the best part of the really deep snow that started falling in September was that it killed off a lot of the sparrow-sized mosquitoes and black flies.     

A posting to Halifax Fleet School in 1986, and then to HMCS Annapolis was followed by a brief tour in NDHQ. He applied, and was accepted, for a Masters programme at RMC in 1990, earning his MA in 1992, and a posting back to the West Coast to teach History at Royal Roads from ‘92 until ‘95. This was followed by two NDHQ tours, separated by a year at CF Staff College (‘98-‘99)  in Toronto. Dues paid, Doug was posted to NAS Whidbey Island (Washington State) from 2002-2005, moving from there to Chilliwack BC, and retiring as a LCdr out of Vancouver summer 2005.

A highly respected historian, Doug remained active in the academic world. His personal library contained dozens of books and magazine articles he had reviewed or edited. Still not a crayon in sight. In 2008/2009 he published his book “Fighting at Sea: Naval Battles from the Ages of Sail and Steam”, a well-reviewed collection of essays describing six naval engagements taking place between 1759 and 1944. 

Doug was active in his community. He ran the Chilliwack Rotary Club book sale in 2010 and 2011 as well as being a force behind the scenes for the book sale for years. He controlled the “Special Books Department”, spending hundreds of hours researching and finding many rare and valuable books amongst the donations. From 2010-2016 he was heavily involved in the committee that ran the Rotary student exchange program. He left Rotary in 2016 and joined Kiwanis.  He was a regular volunteer with the Kiwanis Super Readers program that promoted literacy in elementary/middle schools. He and members of his family participated annually in Operation Rednose, a programme designed to reduce impaired driving over the Christmas/New Years’ holiday period.

Doug made a point of attending the Class of ‘79 five-year re-unions. He’d spend Friday afternoon watching the College recruits struggling on the obstacle course, knowing that his recruit obstacle course in 1975 was much more difficult. He’d follow the 5 or 6 Sqn recruits around the course, encouraging their progress. In the evening he’d attend the Class Meet and Greet, and on Saturday, the more formal class function, moving from group to group renewing friendships, and finding out what his Classmates had been up to in the 5-years since he’d last spoken with them. He’d form up on the parade square Sunday morning for the “March to the Arch”, proudly marching with his classmates. He attended the 2019 class reunion as well. Needing his walker for balance, he paced the Brock and Brant recruits on the Obstacle course, cheering them on. He attended the Meet and Greet on Friday and the yard party Saturday afternoon. At the Formal on Saturday evening, he talked to classmates, candidly discussing the state of his PSP diagnosis. On Sunday morning he needed his walker to get from the parking lot to the parade square. Once there, he ditched his walker in the bleachers, joined his classmates on the parade square, and marched proudly to the Arch. Head up, shoulders back, arms swinging, he kept pace with everyone else.

At the Arch, he looked around, smiling, taking it all in, knowing that this would be his last March. “It seems to get longer every time” he declared once he got back to the parade square. It was one of the most inspirational things most of us had seen. He reclaimed his walker, and headed to the Class gathering around Falaise for final class photos.

Doug will be missed.

Editor’s Note: Somehow the yearbook editors managed to get Doug’s College Number wrong, an oversight which I am sure Doug would not have missed since he has always been very perceptive. His correct number is actually 12209 vice the 12222 (Bill Panter) shown in yearbook write-up on the banner.