Necrology

William ­Comstock ”Mac” MacFarland '57

Apr. 16, 1935-Dec. 20, 2020

For more than 30 years, William ­Comstock ”Mac” MacFarland ’57 cared for children and high-risk newborns in Olean, N.Y., and when he ended his career, he wasn’t ready to slow down.

“I am retiring now, and I still will not have enough time to do everything. Life has been fun,” he wrote in his 40th reunion yearbook. Hamilton, he said, kindled his lifetime interest in learning.

MacFarland died on Dec. 20, 2020, in Olean.

As a child, he lived on an army base with his siblings. He was born on April 16, 1935, in Hornell, N.Y., the son of Dr. James MacFarland and Annette Comstock ­MacFarland. His father was a radiologist in the U.S. Army during World War II, ­stationed in Chickasaw, Okla. After the war, the ­family moved to Hornell, where MacFarland graduated from Hornell High School.

At Hamilton, he distinguished himself as an athlete and a scholar, earning academic honors all four years. His sports were golf and skiing. He joined Alpha Delta Phi fraternity and wrote decades later in a reunion yearbook, “The camaraderie of the fraternity system will not be forgotten.” A chemistry major on the pre-med track, MacFarland was a member of the Biology Club all four years of College and also took part in the International Relations and French clubs, the Hamiltonian staff, and the Campus Fund.

Years after graduation he recalled with joy that, even as a premed student, he could take literature courses with Professor Robert “Bobo” Rudd and learn to write well. He thought fondly of the comradery of the golf team, spring jazz concerts in Commons, and Duke Ellington performing at a dance in the gym. The College gave him “a great foundation to continue to learn,” MacFarland said.

He earned his medical degree from the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in Cleveland and did his postgraduate pediatrics training at University Hospitals of Cleveland. In 1964, early on in the Vietnam War, he began a two-year stint in the U.S Medical Corps at Fort Carson in Colorado Springs. He began his civilian medical practice in Olean in 1964.

MacFarland loved outdoor activities with his family: skiing, golf, tennis, hunting, fishing, sailing, and canoeing. “Many memories were made during family ski trips to Ski Wing, where he was on the ski patrol, and later at Holimont in Ellicottville,” his family wrote in his published obituary.
An Eagle Scout in his youth, ­MacFarland, supported the scouts and led a group of them on a canoe trip to Algonquin Park in Ontario, Canada. He was an advocate of the YMCA, where he would swim laps daily.

“Mac was always learning something new, like the chemical process behind ­photography, drywall installation, woodworking, or how to make his own ammo. He was a good cook and often tried new recipes,” his family noted.

Survivors include his wife, the former Sandra Rose; a daughter, Karen MacFarland ’85; a son; three grandchildren; a sister; and a cousin, John Davis, Jr. ’52. A daughter predeceased him.

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