Publication Date: Sunday, December 6, 2015

  Gregory Donald McLean, age 65, passed away Wednesday, November 25, 2015, at Highland House. He was born in Oakland, CA, on Sept 27, 1950, to Tom and Mel McLean.The McLean family moved to Grants Pass, OR, in 1964. Greg attended Grants Pass High School and was involved in sports (football and wrestling) and was captain of the chess team.After high school, Greg joined the Navy and became an airplane mechanic, specializing in sheet metal and hydraulics. He was stationed in Hawaii and the Philippines. He went into Vietnam and Thailand and other areas of the Far East when needed by the Navy. After his time with the Navy, Greg attended Southern Oregon University for a year. Then he decided to leave college and became a sheet metal mechanic in the heating and air conditioning field.Greg had a great love for the sport of wrestling. Not only did he participate in middle school, high school, and college, he participated in the Navy and was on the All Navy Wrestling Team. Greg encouraged young wrestlers by volunteering his time to be the head wrestling coach for Fleming Middle School for almost 20 years. Many young men that he coached had very successful high school, and college wrestling careers.Volunteering was a way of life for Greg. He also was active in the Grants Pass Elks and Eagles Clubs. He held numerous offices with both clubs. He loved to help with the yearly picnics, and passing out Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets.Fishing, rafting and camping were what Greg enjoyed most. He had a special ability of knowing where the fish were and getting them to bite when no one else could. He always had a good joke or fishing story to tell. Greg is survived by his father, Tom McLean; brothers Damian McLean, John McLean, Dan and his wife Cathy McLean all of Grants Pass; brother Jim and his wife Debbie of Medford, OR, and his sister, Pegi Howell and husband Farley, of Lake Oswego, OR. He has twelve nieces and nephews.His mother, Mel McLean and sister, Lorraine, preceded him in death.A funeral mass will be held with a reception to follow, at St. Anne Catholic Church on Friday, Dec. 11, 2015, at 11:00 a.m. He will be buried at the VA Eagle Point National Cemetery at a later date.