Professor Rod Macleod Memorial Video
Channel: A Different Look - Drone Data & Imaging
Date: 2015-09-07

Roderick Macleod was born at No. 2 Lower Barvas [Isle of Lewis, Scotland, UK] on the 31st. of December 1936.  He was brought up there with his older brother William and his sister Christina.   At the age of 5 he began his formal education at Barvas Primary School where he got a good grounding in the 3 'Rs',-Reading, wRiting and 
aRithmetic.  At 12 years he qualified for a place in the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway which was 12 miles away.  This meant he had to stay in Stornoway during the week and come home at weekends because transport was more of a problem then than it is now.  
    After spending 6 years there he went to Glasgow University where he took a BSc degree.  Following that he qualified for entrance to Cambridge University where he took a PhD degree in 
Molecular Cell Biology.  After graduating he was offered a two year post in the University of Illinois and in the autumn of 1963 he sailed across to America.  As things turned out he spent his whole working life there apart from a year's Sabbatical in Oxford University in 1970.  
    It was obvious that he enjoyed his chosen career and it appears he was an influence for good among the students.  He blended well into the American way of life and made many good friends in the 43 years he spent there.  During that time he returned home only for holidays with the family.
     We were happy as a family that he agreed to come back home to be nursed for the last 7 months of his life but we could not have done it without the outstanding support we got from the doctors and nurses in our local medical practice.  As he often said, " I am being treated like a king by all those 'angels of mercy' ".  We had happy times together despite his illness when he talked a lot about his youth and when he dictated many philosophical papers for the nieces and nephews.  We were glad to be able to nurse him at 
home till he passed away on Monday 3rd September 2007.
     As is the custom here, the remains were taken to the local church where relatives, friends and neighbours meet for about an hour or so where prayers are said especially for the comfort of the relatives.  We had meetings on the Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  Psalms were sung in Gaelic, portions of scripture were read and prayers were offered.  A lovely tribute was given by a former classmate of his.  On the Thursday at 11:30 a.m. the funeral 
service was held, again in the church where a large crowd of mourners gathered to bid their last farewells.  As is also customary the remains were carried for a few hundred yards where the men take turns to carry the coffin in a very orderly manner.  Then the hearse carried the remains for the remaining distance to the graveyard. 
    When he left his island home 43 years ago there could have been some uncertainty about his final resting place but destiny decreed that he came back home where it was his own wish to be and he was laid to rest within the sound of the ocean beside his mother and father.  There will be a memorial stone erected later on.  Because of the sandy nature of the soil it is inadvisable to erect a stone till the sand has settled.
[obituary written by Rod's sister Christina]