Carold Mclaughlin

C.E. "Mac" McLaughlin
C.E. "Mac" McLaughlin, 90, formerly of Williston, N.D., and Tempe, Ariz., more recently of Olathe, Kan., died Thursday, May 22, 2008, at Olathe Medical Center. Carold was born January 8, 1918, in Texas County, Okla., to Jess and Berton "Bertie" McLaughlin, the youngest of eight children. Earlier, Carold's mother, young Bertie Smith and her family, had traveled west in a covered wagon to Oklahoma from Tennessee and were part of the second wave of the "Sooner" land rush. There, in the panhandle of Oklahoma the McLaughlin family farmed, but after Carold was born, they gave it up and moved to nearby Liberal, Kan. Jess worked a variety of jobs to support the family, including serving as manager of Clear Vision Pump Co. This area where Carold grew up served as the backdrop to the setting depicted in Steinbeck's classic novel, "The Grapes of Wrath," where money was tight and farms failed. Carold's family was no exception, and he always remembered those harsh lessons learned during those lean years. Sometime during his youth, the McLaughlin family moved to Kansas City, Mo., where Carold attended school and worked odd jobs to assist the family finances. Although Carol never graduated from high school, he developed a keen sense of business that served him well through the years. With the outbreak of World War II, Carold joined the army and shipped out to the Pacific Theater, serving in the Philippines and New Guinea. At the conclusion of the war, he headed up to Fargo, N.D., joining his brothers Jess and Harold, who owned the McLaughlin/Shell Oil Service there. Through Harold's' wife, Lib (Dewey) McLaughlin, he met Elizabeth "Beth" Gaffaney of Fargo, and they were married on June 4, 1946, at St. Mary's Cathedral in Fargo. Carold and Beth ushered six children into the world, with a son, Peter, dying a few days after birth. Carold is survived by five children, Margaret (Dick) McKennett, Williston, N.D., Barbara (Greg) Kelsch, Newcastle, Okla., Susan (Garry) Poore, Olathe, Kan., Paul (Julie) McLaughlin, Salinas, Calif., Mary (Mills) McLaughlin, Pleasanton, Calif.; 11 grandchildren, Denise (Erik) Hanson, Dawn Fuglestad, Chad (Amy) Kelsch, Natalie (Michael) Ramming, Ashley Poore, Brian McLaughlin, Shawnie McLaughlin, Kari McLaughlin, James Mills, Patrick Mills, Stuart Mills, and two step grandchildren, Amy Lovett and Scott Poore, as well as nine great grandchildren. Beth died in 1991 and later Carold moved from Tempe, Ariz., to Olathe, Kan., to spend his final years. In a sense, he had come full circle, ending up where he first started. Cremation has taken place, and there will be a memorial service at the Wesley Covenant Chapel, Leawood, Kan., where a visitation will take place at 9:30 a.m. with the service starting at 10:30 a.m. Memorials may be given to the Olathe Public Schools Foundation, 315 N. Lindenwood, Olathe, KS 66062.