‘He cared profoundly’: Former Mundelein Mayor Colin McRae dies

Former Mundelein Mayor Colin McRae, who went on to serve on the Lake County Board and as the president of the Lake County Forest Preserve District board, died Thursday. He was 81.

McRae had lung cancer, said cousin and Mundelein Trustee Tim Wilson. A resident of Grayslake and Florida in recent years, he died at a medical facility in Lindenhurst surrounded by family.

Called “Butch” by those close to him, McRae was remembered as wise, down to earth and competitive — and as a man who put his heart into everything he did.

“Those who knew him saw his strength, kindness and unwavering dedication to family, friends and neighbors,” said Wilson, whose mayoral bid this spring was endorsed by McRae.

One of eight children, McRae and his family moved to Mundelein when he was 3 years old, and the village remained home for most of his life.

He graduated from what was then Libertyville-Fremont Consolidated High School in 1961 and from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. A stint in the U.S. Army followed.

McRae married his wife, Mary, in 1970, and they had a daughter, Lynne. He went on to work in the contract services field and then the real estate industry.

McRae served as a Mundelein trustee from 1975 to 1977. He was elected mayor in 1977 and held that post for three terms until he chose not to seek reelection in 1989.

During McRae’s mayoral tenure, Mundelein launched the county’s first municipal recycling program. The village’s leaf-pickup program began during his time as mayor as well; it, too, was a first in Lake County.

“He cared profoundly for Mundelein and worked hard to make a difference in the community he loved,” Wilson said.

McRae was credited by current Mayor Steve Lentz with championing the installation of new water mains in the village, a move that eventually led to Mundelein getting drinking water from Lake Michigan through the Central Lake County Joint Action Water Agency.

“Without his efforts on the water, we wouldn’t be where we are today,” Lentz said.

McRae turned his sights to a county office in 1990, capturing a seat on the county board and the forest district board as a Republican representing the Mundelein area. He held that post until 1994, serving as the forest board’s leader for the last two years of his tenure.

McRae was seen as a pro-development county board member, and his 1994 primary loss to fellow Republican Diana O’Kelly — who now serves as Fremont Township supervisor — was at the start of a pro-conservation movement that subsequently swept through the two boards.

Despite the bitter defeat, McRae was “always very kind” to O’Kelly in the years that followed, she said Friday.

O’Kelly remembered her former rival as “a very bright guy” who had a wealth of information about local government.

McRae’s other public service included work with the Mundelein School District 75 Educational Foundation, the Central Lake County YMCA board, Leaders are Readers and the Boy Scouts.

McRae Lane on the village’s northwest side honors him.

Funeral arrangements haven’t been determined.