McLean, Dewey M.
Dewey M. McLean, PhD of Blacksburg, Virginia passed away Friday evening surrounded by his family. Dewey served on the faculty of Virginia Tech for 25 years in the Geology Department where he received numerous teaching excellence awards.
His research and work on global warming, volcanism, and mass extinction of dinosaurs at the K-T boundary gained national attention and wide acceptance by the scientific community. Dewey was a veteran of the Korean War having served in the U.S Army. He was very proud of his service, and of the photographs he captured of the Korean countryside and people. His photographs on Flickr have been viewed by millions. Dewey loved to write poems, short stories and music. He had an insatiable appetite for learning. Dewey was an avid bird-watcher and took great joy in the annual return of his winged friends. He loved his home in Blacksburg. Dewey was deeply loved and will be terribly missed.
Dewey is survived by his wife of 64 years, Mary McLean whom he adored, four children: Michael McLean of Hartford, CT; Mitchell McLean and Debra McLean of Atlanta, GA; and Donna Alphin of Haymarket VA, five grandchildren: Michael McLean Jr., Megan Bettencourt, Matthew McLean, Jacob Alphin, and Delanie Alphin LeTard, and one great-grandchild Finn Bettencourt.
Services will be held privately at his request.
January 4, 2025 @ 5:57 pm
Dr. McLean had one of the biggest positive impacts on my career of any professor I had at Virginia Tech. He was a great guy. He was very down to earth, but brilliant at the same time, communicated wonderfully about geology, and very importantly, loved our Lord Jesus. He was deeply committed to working with all of his students, including me. I had taken his class on historical geology & still remember much of what he taught many decades ago.