Mac passed away June 18th at home in the Mason Valley Residence in Yerington, Nevada. Services will be held at 10:00 AM Tuesday, July 7, at St. Alban's Episcopal Church in Yerington. He was preceded by his beloved wife Betsy and is survived by four children, Ann, Stephen, Hilary, and Bruce, and seven grandchildren (soon to be nine). The family requests a donation to your favorite charity in lieu of flowers. One of Mac's favorites was ARF, the Animal Rescue Foundation. You may contribute to this worthy local charity either through Wells Fargo Bank in Yerington or by mail to ARF, 1112 Berney Rd., Fallon, NV 89406-9112.

Mac was born July 28, 1915 near Horseshoe Bend, Idaho and raised in American Falls. He credited his parents, Seth Harley and Mae Erickson McAlister, who by allowing him to lead an unencumbered and adventurous boyhood on the banks of the Snake River gave him a love of the outdoors and of all manner of rocks, minerals, gems, and geology. He traced his yen for prospecting to many influences but often recounted a favorite summer when at age 15 he and young friends located, opened, and operated a viable gold mine along the river.

Following graduation from the University of Idaho with a degree in Mining Engineering, Mac worked in various mines around the west and northwest, and watched as events in Europe and Asia came to engulf his country. They would completely change the course of his life.

He was skiing at Alta, Utah one Sunday morning when news of the attack on Pearl Harbor and declaration of war on Japan was shouted from person to person down the slopes. Mac, like so many Americans, rushed to enlist but was turned away because of imperfect eyesight. Undeterred, he returned again and again until the examining physician threatened to have him thrown down the stairs. Shortly thereafter, that same physician alerted him that he was welcome after all, and Mac joined the U.S. Navy as a Seabee. On assignment to build airstrips in Australia, Mac's special abilities with explosives were noticed and he was transferred to the South Pacific as a Frogman in Underwater Demolition Team 7. The team's primary duty was to clear mines, coral reefs, and other obstacles to make way for invasion landing craft, but the job also included reconnaissance missions. Mac had many tales of the war but, like many veterans, preferred not to recount his actual combat experience. He was awarded the Silver Star for his service in the Battle of Saipan, but had nothing to say about it other than that he had lost friends there. Not until his final months of life did he open up a bit and reveal that he had come under sniper fire in the open water.

Work with the Frogmen now introduced Mac to his future career in the then-nascent science of geophysics, when he was recruited to help the U.S. Navy develop a sonar-style mine detector. The war ended before the detector was widely used but Mac appreciated its broader possibilities and was soon hired by the Anaconda Company to study and develop electrical detection methods for mineral exploration. It was exciting work that brought him much personal satisfaction and many treasured friendships. It kept him fully occupied and gainfully employed for the next 50 years, as he helped to evolve the science and technology of geophysics from fuzzy concepts and vacuum tubes to proven theories and microprocessors. Yet he always kept both feet planted firmly on the ground, insisting that you could not interpret the geophysics of an area without first mastering its geology.

Near the end of the war, fate brought Mac to Washington, D.C. and to what he considered the finest reward for his service: Betsy Ann Krichbaum, a Lieutenant in the U.S. Navy WAVES. Friends set them up on an unlikely blind date: She a somewhat genteel easterner and he a sunburned westerner – besides, she outranked him. But he was crazy about her, and after the war he sacrificed graduate school to relocate himself to New York where he could pursue her. They were married March 15, 1947, in Milburn, New Jersey and soon moved west to raise the family and follow his work in Darwin, California; Yerington; Tooele, Utah; Tucson, Arizona; and finally back to Yerington. They enjoyed nearly 54 years of marriage.

Following the death of Betsy, and after his second hip replacement, Mac gave up his house and came to live at the Mason Valley Residence. There, he found kindness and comfort and new friends. He settled in contentedly, but remained an involved citizen, doing what he could to help protect Mason Valley water rights and local wells and agriculture from proposed reclamation of the Walker River. He also found friends and spiritual support at St. Alban's Episcopal Church.

Mac traveled widely in his career and had many tales of his experiences in Australia, Canada, Mexico, Chile and elsewhere in South America, as well as here in the United States. He was a walking and highly entertaining encyclopedia of geography, geology, and gold production. His long and active life is a testament to his rigorous practice of physical and mental development and self-discipline. He was a strong and loving father to his children, and taught them to appreciate both the beauty and the fierceness of nature, watched for and encouraged their interests, gave them good starts in life, and has left them and many others rich in wonderful memories. Best of all, he was there to enjoy for many extra years.

Mac was a very modest man who would certainly consider this summary to be excessive. Yet it is totally inadequate for the Mac we knew. We miss him but do not mourn him for his was a life well lived.

Family and Friends may sign th eonline guest book at www.FRFH.net

Arrangements are under the direction of Freitas Rupracht Funeral 25 Hwy 208 Yerington, NV 89447 (775) 463-2911