-John Carlisle Maclay, II died peacefully in his sleep at St. Luke's Hospital in Columbus, NC Sunday Jan 7th at 81 yrs. of age. He was preceded in death by his wife, Marilyn Valter Maclay, the love of his life, and his parents, Donald and Barbara Maclay. He is survived by sons Robert Maclay in Suisun City, CA and Keith Maclay in Mooresville, NC, and by brother Donald Maclay in Malibu, CA and sister Sally Dayton in Savannah, GA.John spent his formative years in Summit, NJ where he graduated from high school in 1953. He graduated from Cornell University in 1958 after completing a five-year Mechanical Engineering degree; he was elected to Tau Beta Pi, the oldest and most prestigious engineering honor society in the world.He worked for over 30 years for AT&T starting with Bell Labs in Murray Hill NJ. John earned a Master's Degree in Electrical Engineering from NYU while employed by Bell System Long Lines Division in New York and an MBA from St. Mary's University in Moraga CA after transferring to AT&T/Pacific Bell in San Francisco.While at Bell Labs he designed and patented the first direct burial cable plow used to bury communication cables in huge housing projects and on the ocean floor; he and this methodology were featured in the Smithsonian. John held several engineering and management positions in NY and California before retiring from AT&T in the mid-80s. He and Marilyn moved to Tryon Estates in Columbus NC in 2012. John was a born engineer earning the nickname "Motor" very early in life. He literally lived and breathed planes, trains, and automobiles his entire life. One of his proudest possessions was a 1962 Alfa Romeo 2600 that he coddled to the nth degree and with which he won accolades from various organizations. He was also the proud owner of a Cessna 182 which he flew as often as possible until he could no longer. John was also a very talented trumpet player, having sat first chair in the Cornell Concert Band and played at the Lesher Theatre in Walnut Creek, CA.John was greatly loved by his family and many good friends and will be sorely missed. At his request, there will be only a short memorial service at the Tryon Estates Columbarium on Sat. Jan 13th at 1:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, please send donations in his memory to Laurel Lake Music Society, 617 Laurel Lake Drive, Columbus, NC 28722.
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