The McMeekan Family Tree
A bit of background
Our branch of the McMeekan clan originated in Scotland.
They migrated New Zealand via Ireland in the Mid 1850's.
My aunt, Robin Burnett [nee McMeekan], who is now in her eighties, is convinced that the McMeekan's were sheep thieves who fled to New Zealand before they were caught. Otherwise, they probably would have been shipped to Australia in chains.
My grandfather, Campbell Percy McMeekan ('Mac'), was a prominent agricultural scientist in New Zealand and ended his career working for the World Bank. He wrote a book called Grass to Milk that was published in 1960 had quite an impact in New Zealand and overseas.
His wife, Margorie Doris McMeekan, was a fascinating woman. She had accompanied her sister, Helen Crabb, a talented artist, to England just before World War I so Helen could get proper training. Doris, who refused to be called Margorie because she thought it was an awful name, became a Captain in the British Army in World War I. She spent the war driving supply trucks all over Britain, however was based in Scotland for a couple of years.
When Doris returned to New Zealand after the war, she found an administrative job at Massey University. At Massey, she eventually met my grandfather. Interestingly, she was thirteen years older than Mac. Does this make her one of the first 'cougars'? I like to think so.
As it turned out, Mac and Doris formed quite a duo. Doris told Mac that he needed to become a full professor by the age of 30. In pursuit of this goal, she helped him get to Cambridge University to do a PhD in the 1930s. By that stage, it was the Depression and they had two small children. Things were tough financially because they were living on his academic scholarship, which was designed to support one person. Their daughter, Robin (my aunt), recalls living on bananas when they lived in Cambridge when she was a toddler because that was all Doris could afford to feed her and her younger brother, Shawn (my father).
Fast forward, Mac did became a Professor by the age of 30 and went on to have an interesting and illustrious career, both in New Zealand and internationally. While he was a talented man, I suspect Doris had quite a bit to do with his success because she had blind faith in his talent and was determined he would make an impact in agriculture.
Our branch of the McMeekan clan originated in Scotland.
They migrated New Zealand via Ireland in the Mid 1850's.
My aunt, Robin Burnett [nee McMeekan], who is now in her eighties, is convinced that the McMeekan's were sheep thieves who fled to New Zealand before they were caught. Otherwise, they probably would have been shipped to Australia in chains.
My grandfather, Campbell Percy McMeekan ('Mac'), was a prominent agricultural scientist in New Zealand and ended his career working for the World Bank. He wrote a book called Grass to Milk that was published in 1960 had quite an impact in New Zealand and overseas.
His wife, Margorie Doris McMeekan, was a fascinating woman. She had accompanied her sister, Helen Crabb, a talented artist, to England just before World War I so Helen could get proper training. Doris, who refused to be called Margorie because she thought it was an awful name, became a Captain in the British Army in World War I. She spent the war driving supply trucks all over Britain, however was based in Scotland for a couple of years.
When Doris returned to New Zealand after the war, she found an administrative job at Massey University. At Massey, she eventually met my grandfather. Interestingly, she was thirteen years older than Mac. Does this make her one of the first 'cougars'? I like to think so.
As it turned out, Mac and Doris formed quite a duo. Doris told Mac that he needed to become a full professor by the age of 30. In pursuit of this goal, she helped him get to Cambridge University to do a PhD in the 1930s. By that stage, it was the Depression and they had two small children. Things were tough financially because they were living on his academic scholarship, which was designed to support one person. Their daughter, Robin (my aunt), recalls living on bananas when they lived in Cambridge when she was a toddler because that was all Doris could afford to feed her and her younger brother, Shawn (my father).
Fast forward, Mac did became a Professor by the age of 30 and went on to have an interesting and illustrious career, both in New Zealand and internationally. While he was a talented man, I suspect Doris had quite a bit to do with his success because she had blind faith in his talent and was determined he would make an impact in agriculture.
The McMeekan's in America
As in the history of all the McMeekan men, behind this one is a beautiful and intelligent woman. Katherine Jane (Kate) Kuruc always reminds me that our journey is a partnership, one that has and continues to have the foundation of love and family values mixed with adventure, travel and commitment to each other.
We met on a flight to London, where we were both working for an American Airline, People Express. Graeme had purchased a house in a sleepy village in Kent that was a true fixer-upper. Our courtship included may months of restoration and visits to Pembury Village finally selling the property in 1989, just prior to Graeme returning to Auckland New Zealand to complete his University degree in Economics. We were married in 1991, honeymooned in St. Barts and returned to New Jersey in 1993. Kate stayed with the airline, to this day and has completed her 35th year, flying mostly international flights, based in Newark New Jersey, however commuting from our home in Naples, FL.
Graeme's career took a different path as he moved from the Airline industry to medical device sales, eventually spending 15 years with DePuy Spine, a Johnson and Johnson company based in New Jersey. in 2004 he relocated the family to Naples Florida and spent the next 5 years with Exactech Spine and then 10 years as an entrepreneur and consultant in product development for a number of technologies in healthcare. He was recently been awarded a Patent for monitoring musculoskeletal conditions.
To view the full details of U.S. Patent No. 10,863,928 ("System and methods for monitoring the spine, balance, gait, or posture of a patient"), please visit https://pdfpiw.uspto.gov/.piw?Docid=10863928.
Finally, and just recently Graeme released a solution for the management of patients that have challenges obtaining Physical Therapy in these very difficult times of COVID-19. The web site:
https://www.rehabinmotiononline.com/
is a web portal supported by a SaaS model for Physical Therapists that allows them to design custom online programs that can be sent to their smart devices, to allow them to complete their PT regiments in the safety of their own home.
Our delightfully wicked children
We have been blessed by three wonderful children who have grown into young adults.
We have been blessed by three wonderful children who have grown into young adults.
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Michael
When Michael can, he heads to the water. Salt, Lake it makes no difference.
Kiera
One of my favourite shots of Kiera the destroyer. That goal went in by the way!
Lauren
Lauren found a home in the Gulf Coast Sharks Marching Band, the highlight of her four years was the 2017 Macy's Thankgiving parade.
The McMeekan Family Tree and the people who inhabit it
Recently, I have attemped to build the McMeekan Family Tree. The Ancestory.com website has helped tremendously and I have made an honest attempt to bring in the members from my wife's side, the Kuruc family into the picture.
