Guy McClenahan

Mac was an industrious entrepreneur all his life. At age 13, he began supporting his family by working at a dairy and at age 16, while still in high school, he purchased the dairy and the dairy herd. His investment in pasteurizing equipment proved foresighted when a raw milk contagion drove customers to his pasteurized milk. As war was gathering, Mac sold the herd and moved to Des Moines, where he completed a correspondence course to earn his refrigeration certification, and met his life’s love and partner, Betty Jane Frye. Their romance endured through wartime love letters while Mac was stationed with a naval air corps detail in England as a bombardier where his PB4Y-2 (B-24) flight crew flew patrol over the Bay of Biscay, a peculiar choice of service given Mac’s fear of heights and inability to swim. Mac earned military decorations for performance of his duties.

Upon returning to Iowa, marriage, successful employment in commercial refrigeration in Des Moines and Omaha and the birth of their daughter, Candy, Mac prevailed upon Betty to seek new opportunities in Belmond, where they had two sons, Greg and Ed. Through hard work, intelligence and a sense for opportunity, Mac’s business ventures flourished, including the Belmond Sales Barn, feed and grain sales (Mac’s Feeder Supply), interstate livestock brokerage sales, cow/calf and hog farrowing and cattle and hog production operations, and farm land acquisitions and operations. Mac promoted livestock production on numerous family farms surrounding Belmond.

Mac gave generously of himself to others as a devoted husband and father of three and an active community member. He served as President of the Wright County Cattlemen’s Association, regional leader of the Boy Scouts and 4H, member of the Belmond City Council, Board member of the Belmond United Methodist Church and the Belmond Retirement Apartments, a care car driver, and a friend to many and a businessman of integrity and trust.

Mac possessed a confident humility and steadfast optimism. He seemed not to dwell on slights of fortune. His strength and stability of character in the face of the personally devastating impact of the 1966 Belmond tornado that destroyed his home, business and farms, engendered great respect. But the most difficult of life’s misfortunes was the death of his youngest son, Ed, from cancer in 2001. In memory of Ed, Mac and Betty donated land to create a memorial park along the Iowa River in honor of Ed’s love of the land and its conservation.

Mac was a patient and understanding parent. He promoted his children’s independence and respected their decisions. He had a tolerance for deviations from the norm and a capacity for forgiveness. He earned his children’s affections and respect countless times. Mac had a second life as a grandparent. He enjoyed sharing a more relaxed agenda with his seven grandchildren through many memorable outings and vacation trips with the extended family.

Mac was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Wilmer and his son Ed. He is survived by his daughter Candy, his son Greg (Dianne) and daughter-in-law Colleen and seven grandchildren: Laura (Carl), Caitlin, Rachael, Matthew (Falon), Blake, Drew, and Erin (Brent) and six great-grandchildren.