Janet Sue Eagan – Bedford
Janet Sue Eagan, 74, of Bedford, died Tuesday, August 13, 2013 at her residence.
Arrangements are pending at the Day & Carter Mortuary.
Harold E. McReynolds – Bedford
Harold E. McReynolds departed this Earth on Sunday, August 11, 2013.
He was born on May 14, 1922, in Somerset KY, attended Dayton and Cincinnati, OH schools, and graduated from Norwood High School in June of 1939. His family then moved to the Milan, IN area.
He was a veteran of WW II, serving in the Army Air Corps from 1942 to 1946. His overseas duty was in the Philippines. He was provided an opportunity for further schooling and enrolled in Hanover College in 1946. In 1950, he received Bachelor degree with a major in Zoology, and minors in Geology and Botany.
In February 1952 he earned a Master of Science degree in Aquatic Biology from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Later he took additional training at Butler University, Indiana University, and Colorado State University.
At Hanover College, Harold (“Mac”) earned four varsity letters in baseball.
Scholastically, Mac was on the Dean’s List and was inducted into both the scholastic and the scientific honorary societies.
He joined the Phi Delta Theta fraternity where he served as president one year.
In a recent listing of Outstanding Biological Scientists from Hanover College, Mac was the only one chosen for this select group who did not have a Ph.D.
It was at Hanover where he met his wife-to-be, Shirley Collins. They were married in 1949. Their son, Mark, was born in 1954.
From 1952 to 1954 Mac worked as a Proof Director at Jefferson Proving Ground, and in June 1954, he was hired as Indiana’s first college-trained fisheries biologist and moved from Osgood to Indianapolis. He was in charge of aquatic research studies for the State in conjunction with Indiana University scientists.
In 1966 he accepted a new position with the U.S. Forest Service in the Regional Office in Milwaukee, as their first Regional Fisheries Biologist. He was first located in Milwaukee, and then moved to Bedford.
He retired in 1986 from the Forest Service. Mac was a long-time member of the Indiana Academy of Science and the American Fisheries Society.
He was the first Indiana resident to be awarded the Society’s Excellence in Fisheries Science, and he was elected to Fellow status in 1984. That same year Purdue University awarded him their Chase Osborn award, symbolic of their selection of “Man-of the-Year in Conservation”.
He has both personally authored and has collaborated with university scientists throughout the Midwest to write many scientific papers concerning fisheries research and the aquatic sciences.
Mac’s activities in the Bedford area include membership in the Lions Club, Bedford Supper Club, Exchange Club, Kiwanis, the U.S. Power Squadron, and the American Legion. He served for many years on the Board of Directorsof the Lawrence County Museum. He created the ongoing “Brain Games” project as a fundraiser for the Museum, and since the first Brain Games in 2002 it has continued to be the Museum’s largest annual fundraising event.
He was a member of the First United Methodist Church. In 200l he initiated a successful Elderhostel program based on Lawrence County’s highlights, which was held at Spring Mill State Park.
He was preceeded in death by his wife of 61 years Shirley, a sister Geri and her husband, Dr. Oscar Hoffman, and his parents Mary Farmer McReynolds and David McReynolds.
Visitation will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, August 15 at Ferguson-Lee Funeral Home in Bedford. Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Friday August 16 at the funeral home. Burial will be in Green Hill Cemetery in Bedford.
Memorial gifts may be given to the Lawrence County Museum, the First United Methodist Church, the Lawrence County Community Foundation and the Bedford Regional Medical Center.
Online condolences may be sent to the family at www.fergusonlee.com.
