Mr Mac’s passing a shock
ADORED by students and staff alike, one of the Far North’s most loved educators will be farewelled in Cairns on Saturday after dying suddenly, five weeks into his retirement.
Tributes have flooded in for former Feluga State School principal and Edge Hill State School teacher Ian McLellan – better known as Mr Mac.
A stunned Feluga community gathered at the school last Saturday to celebrate his life and EHSS will hold a memorial service at 2pm this Saturday.
“Our school community lost someone very special to us on 21 August, 2019,” Edge Hill State School’s Facebook page said of Mr Mac, who taught there for 29 years before moving to Feluga.
His family has invited friends, past students, families, teachers, colleagues and others to “celebrate his life and the impact he had on us” at Edge Hill Performing Arts Centre by dressing in his favourite team colours – the blue and white of Tottenham Hotspur.
EHSS principal Paul Campbell said Mr McLellan was passionate about soccer and attended the past three World Cups. But something else mattered too – his students.
“Kids were his passion, education was his passion, learning was his passion. He was much loved. He was a no-nonsense sort of person, very clear about what he expected in terms of behaviour and learning, but developed tremendous rapport with the kids.”
Winner of a 2011 My Favourite Teacher Award, Mr McLellan died unexpectedly just five weeks after officially retiring and had spent most of 2018 travelling the world.