Michael S. McLean

1945 - 2023

Dr. Michael S. McLean, 77, passed away peacefully at home on August 23, attended by loved ones.

Mike was Hampton Roads' longest-serving chiropractor, practicing for almost 50 years and adjusting over 50,000 patients. He led the lobbying effort that secured chiropractic care as a benefit for U.S. active military and veterans in 1999 and later served as president of the International Chiropractors Association.

Mike was born in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1945, the second of five children. His father was a dentist, and his mother was a homemaker who also held a master's degree in chemistry. Mike pursued undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt, Rhodes College, and UC Berkeley before earning his doctorate at Palmer College of Chiropractic in Iowa.

In 1974, Mike moved to Virginia Beach and became the first chiropractor at the oceanfront. He met his wife Pat there, and she went on to pursue a doctorate of chiropractic and join Mike at Ocean LightForce Chiropractic Center in 1984.

Mike and Pat designed and built their own house at the North End and raised a family, with three of their children and a son-in-law later joining them as chiropractors.

Together, Mike and Pat created a gentle adjustment technique called LightForce. Chiropractors across the country sought out Mike as a mentor, and he taught doctors as far away as Sydney and Shanghai. Mike was passionate about informed choice in health care, especially childhood vaccines, and was a longtime supporter of the National Vaccine Information Center.

Mike expressed warmth and concern for every person he met. Patients hailed him with smiles and waves in supermarkets, restaurants, and shops around Virginia Beach. When he inquired, "How are you doing?", he meant it, and he listened carefully to the answer. He never turned patients away for lack of resources, and he ensured everyone received care.

Travel renewed Mike's spirit and was an essential part of his life. With family, he visited Europe, Asia, Australia, Egypt, New Zealand (where he hiked the grueling Milford Track), Tahiti, South America, and the Galapagos. Mike had a deep love for Maui, where he spent much of the past two decades.

Mike joins his late wife Pat (May 2023) and is survived by sons Lion and Demian McLean and Mithra Green; daughters Celeste and Beth McLean; son-in-law Mark Haynes; grandchildren Chloe, Daphne, Hannah, and Emerson; and sister Harriet Spencer McLean and brothers Robert, Albert, and Newton.

The McLean family will hold a celebration of life for Mike on Saturday, Sept. 9, at 2pm at the family home in Virginia Beach. Please contact 757-425-1421 for details.