IAN McLAUGHLIN

McLAUGHLIN--Ian Malcolm Watson, a decorated war Veteran, father of four and grandfather to six, died surrounded by his family and friends at home in Lake Forest, IL on October 19 at age 77. He was diagnosed with cancer in March 2022 and fought the illness until this month. He is survived by his partner of 16 years, Marett Taylor, their daughter, Isabella Taylor-Mc- Laughlin, 9, his three sons, Callum, 44, Gavin, 44 and Ian "Andrew", 41, and their mother, Mary Makrianes McLaughlin, his sister, Lys McLaughlin Pike, and his grandchildren, Ian "Sandy," Malcolm, Pearson, Elsie, Suzanne "Sunny" and Marsden. Born in New York City in 1945 to Elizabeth Watson and F. Malcolm McLaughlin, Mr. McLaughlin graduated from St. Paul's School in Concord, NH in '63; Harvard University in Cambridge, MA with a BA in Fine Arts with Honors in '68. Sparking a lifelong love of antiquities and art, Mr. McLaughlin studied with the British School of Archaeology in Athens, Greece and conducted an independent study on Aegean Prehistory at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens. He worked on the excavations of Haghios Stephanos, the port for Menelaus' palace at Sparta in '63, and Mycenae from '64-'66 and studied ancient sites in Egypt, Sudan, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria. He returned to his beloved Greece 2015 with all his children for his 70th birthday. Mr. McLaughlin served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War as a District Intelligence Advisor and 1st Lieutenant with top secret security clearance. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, one with valor. He ran the Watson Machine Company, founded by his great grandfather in Paterson, NJ, one of the oldest continuously operated manufacturing firms of its time. They built turbine water wheels in the 19th century, iron bridges, electric cars, wireand finally fiberoptic cable in the 20th century. He loved spending summers at his family's place in Lincolnville, Maine. He was a member of the Collections Committee for Ancient Art at Harvard University Art Museum, a graduate of theMetropolitan Museum of Art's Training Course for Education Guides in New York City and a volunteer and educator at The Art Institute in Chicago. In his final years in Lake Forest, Mr. McLaughlin was a devoted father to his youngest child, Isabella, and has left a lasting legacy of wit, humor and passion through his children and grandchildren.