Obituary of Neil Donald MacRae

9 October 1935 – 28 August 2015 At home following a long fight with cancer. Neil is survived by son John, grandsons Matthew and Carmine, and sister Miriam, and by many nieces, nephews and cousins. He is predeceased by parents Hilda and Harvey and sister Jean. Following a B.Sc. from the Faculty of Engineering at Queen’s University, M.Sc. and Ph.D. from McMaster University and post-doctoral year at the University of Minnesota, Neil joined the Department of Geology (renamed the Department of Earth Sciences) at the University of Western Ontario where he (reluctantly) retired – to concentrate on his struggle with cancer – after 47 years of teaching, research and student supervision in 2012. Neil spent brief research leaves at Lehigh University, the Carnegie Institute, and Purdue University, and longer sabbaticals at the University of Melbourne, Australia and the University of Auckland, New Zealand. His many publications range widely, including mantle xenoliths in Australia, diamonds in Canada’s north, and abundance of various economic mineral associations, and intriguing characteristics of meteorites. Cremation has taken place; Neil’s ashes will be interred on the same site as his parents at the Lingwick Protestant Cemetery in the Eastern Townships of Quebec. A reception will be held at the WESTVIEW FUNERAL CHAPEL, 709 Wonderland Road North, London, on Tuesday, September 1st, 2015 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Neil and family wish to extend particular thanks to the doctors and nurses of the London Regional Cancer Program (Victoria Hospital) for their remarkable care and friendship throughout his lengthy treatments. Those wishing to make a donation in Neil’s memory are asked to consider the London Regional Cancer Program.