Gerald McCue

1928 - 2026

Gerald McCue
12/05/1928 - 01/26/2026
Gerald Mallon McCue (Jerry) passed away peacefully in his home in Cambridge, Massachusetts on January 27, 2026 at age 97. He was born in 1928 to Lenore and Floyd McCue. He lived in Colusa, California until moving to Berkeley with his mother and maternal grandmother Katie Mallon in 1938. He was ambitious as a young man and sold newspapers on Berkeley's main intersections in his early teens. He was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Architecture with honors in 1951. He married Barbara Walrond (Bobbie), his wife of 42 years, that year and they went on to have three sons three years apart. Bobbie graduated from UC Berkeley with a BA in Medieval European History and was awarded Phi Beta Kappa in her first year, a special honor.
In 1952 Jerry received his MA degree in Architecture from UC Berkeley and his professional registration in California, at age 24 the youngest ever at that time. In 1954 he became a Lecturer in Architecture at UC Berkeley and founded his own firm, Gerald McCue and Associates in Berkeley which later became McCue Boone Tomsick then MBT Associates in San Francisco. MBT designed major works for IBM, Syntex, Chevron, UC Berkeley, and BART. Over 30 national and regional design and planning awards were granted for works for which Jerry was a principal member of the design team.
Jerry became Professor of Architecture at UC Berkeley in 1965 and Chairman of the department in 1970. In 1976 he and Bobbie moved to Cambridge, Massachusetts where he became Associate Dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He then served as Dean of the GSD from 1980 to 1992. He expanded the curricula which led to new post professional and doctoral programs. He led a new financial development program which realized over $30 million dollars, more than doubling the school's endowment.
In 1988 Jerry withdrew from MBT and established an independent consulting practice. He served as an advisor to corporations, public agencies and city officials in the United States and abroad including: IBM Corporation worldwide; Marsh & McLennan in London; the New Albany Company in Columbus Ohio; and the Ohio State University.
Jerry was an avid skier while living in California. He took the family on annual two-week ski vacations to Sugar Bowl until he bought a vacation townhouse on Lake Tahoe in 1972. He also played tennis. He was a member of the Berkeley Tennis Club and enjoyed playing doubles with his sons and sister-in-law Cece Walrond on Sunday mornings.
After moving to Massachusetts Jerry returned to his first love of art as a diversion from his academic and professional activities. He had taken drawing, painting and sculpture classes at UC Berkeley. He attended numerous painting workshops in Maine and took classes in drawing and painting at the School of the Boston MFA. In 1994 he had a one-man show of his impressionistic landscapes at the Loeb House at Harvard. He was prolific, continuing to paint, first watercolor landscapes then acrylic abstracts, throughout his life.
In 1982 Jerry designed and built a vacation house overlooking the sound in Round Pond, Maine. He spent summer vacations there painting and learned to sail on the ocean.
Jerry and Bobbie traveled every year at Christmas to spend time with their west coast family. Christmas Eve celebration dinners included the men wearing McKay kilts and a marching bagpiper. Bobbie passed away in 1998. After his bereavement Jerry was fortunate to meet Ruth Fields at the Boston MFA with their mutual interest in art. She has been part of the family ever since. Ruth joined Jerry for the Christmas Eve celebration dinners. Jerry and Ruth traveled frequently to Venice, Italy for the Biennale international contemporary art exhibition where they enjoyed watching the boats on the grand canal and the wonderful food.
Jerry is survived by his companion of 25 years artist Ruth Fields. Also: his three sons Scott, Mark and Kent; his eight grandchildren Sean, Melissa, Reed, Alex, Katie, Cristina, Ian and Nicole; and four great grandchildren Avery, Marisol, Bennett and Owen. Jerry wished that any donations would be made to the GSD Fund [https://community.alumni.harvard.edu/give/9295031] to support the next generation of design leaders.