Charles “Mac” McKedy passed away on October 8, 2013 at the age of 83. Charles had lived in Colorado Springs since 1976.
Charles Russell McKedy was born during the Great Depression on November 8, 1929 in Vici, Oklahoma to Russell and Dora (Dennett) McKedy.
Mac, as he was affectionately known, joined the United States Air Force in June 1951. During his twenty-five year active duty Air Force career, he served primarily in transportation squadrons as a ground and automotive maintenance mechanic, a role suited to his innate technical skills and mechanical ability. Mac enlisted in the Air Force during the Korean War and deployed to England during the initial stages of the Cold War. He served in Korea, the Philippines, and Okinawa, and served two extended tours in South Vietnam during the Vietnam War. Following several assignments at bases in Kansas, New Mexico, and South Dakota, Mac retired as a Master Sergeant at Andrews AFB, Maryland, in 1976.
He began his civilian career with local manufacturing firms in Colorado Springs, but eventually transitioned back to his real specialty, automotive maintenance. Mac worked in the truck maintenance department of Jim Carlin Dodge before his final retirement.
Mac married Eula Jean Fischer on October 27, 1956 in Pratt, Kansas, beginning a fifty-seven year union which raised two children, Kevin and Cynthia.
A man blessed with innate creativity, mechanical skills, and initiative, Mac could build something from almost any assortment of spare parts and materials. He enjoyed working with his hands, improving his garden and home, creating wood work projects, and repairing vehicles.
Mac was a member of the Air Force Sergeants’ Association, the Enlisted Retired Association and, later in his life, the Patriots’ Breakfast Club, where he joined his Patriot friends and talked about the state of the nation and the military. He and Eula were frequent attendees at Air Force Academy football games.
Mac is survived by his wife, Eula, and their two children: Kevin (Pam) McKedy of Mainz, Germany, and Cynthia (John Armstrong) McKedy of Colorado Springs. He is also survived by two brothers: Frank McKedy of Newton, Kansas and Leon McKedy of Omaha, Nebraska. Mac dearly loved his three talented and lovely granddaughters: 1st Lt Mallory (Capt Jon Malda, USAF) McKedy Malda, USAF, of Scott AFB, Illinois; Sydney Golditch, a senior at the University of Kansas; and Erica Golditch of Colorado Springs. Mac was preceded in death by his parents Russell and Dora McKedy, his brother Fred McKedy, and his sister Ruby Scrivner.
A memorial service will be held to honor Charles “Mac” McKedy and celebrate his life on Saturday, October 12 at 1:00 pm at the Shrine of Remembrance “America the Beautiful” Chapel in Colorado Springs.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that family and friends make a contribution in Mac’s honor to the USO or the Wounded Warrior Project.