Melvin Ray McGaughey

Rev. Melvin R. McGaughey, 96, Methodist minister, hospice volunteer, and peace activist, died on December 5, 2010 in Saratoga Springs, NY.

McGaughey, son of a Methodist minister, was born August 14, 1914, in Big Springs, Neb. After graduating from Midland College in Nebraska and Boston University School of Theology, he met and married Grace Taylor. The couple was accepted into the Troy Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church and served churches in Ellenburg, Hoosick Falls, Peru, and Schenectady in New York, and Morrisville and Bennington in Vermont. As a clergyman, McGaughey was known for his good humor and his commitment to social justice, ecumenism and peace.

In retirement, McGaughey and his wife served as missionaries in the Island Kingdom of Tonga, and he served as a temporary pastor of the East Arlington (VT) Federated Church. The couple also became very committed to volunteering at hospice, at times inviting a hospice patient into their home for the last weeks of life. McGaughey delivered Meals on Wheels in Saratoga for many years, served on many boards including Green Mountain College in Poultney, VT and Schenectady Inner City Mission, was involved in many charities, and received many awards, but was proudest when he received the 2007 Peace Award from the Saratoga Peace Alliance.

He is survived by his five children, Lawrence, Stanley, Douglas, and Stephen McGaughey and Janet James; twelve grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.