CityNews – Michael Cary McCune, 70, an American citizen residing in Chiang Mai, passed away on 5th March 2016. He was born in Portland, Oregon, to Sidney Gordon McCune and Kathleen Dorothy McCune Schulte (née Dallimore) and graduated from Grant High School. He then attended Williams College and Oregon State University, where he was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and received a bachelors degree in mathematics in 1967.
Following college McCune moved to the Los Angeles area, working for Litton Data Systems and then cofounding Command Control & Communications Corp., which was later acquired by Whittaker Corp. With all of these employers, he showed his creativity with complex algorithms and real-time systems by creating some of the most advanced air defense systems in the world.
McCune first moved to Thailand in 1985, attracted by the peacefulness and respect he experienced. He became a Thai Buddhist and later spent six months in a monastery, Wat Thaton. McCune developed and maintained over 100 websites of the tourism industry in northern Thailand and consulted to the Thailand Board of Investment for a decade. He lived frugally so he could assist financially individuals and many charities. He had a longtime interest in Thai orphanages, schools, temples, and foundations. For nearly 15 years he was on the Organising Committee of the annual Chiang Mai International Cricket Sixes, serving as IT Director and Treasurer.
McCune had a great love of life. He loved the Thai people, country, and cuisine and enjoyed riding his motorcycle around northern Thailand. He loved reading, especially science fiction and fantasy. He built his own electronic devices and was an accomplished classical pianist and singer.
McCune had many friends in Chiang Mai and Bangkok, both native Thais and members of the expatriate community. In addition, he loved to return to the US for fishing expeditions and an annual “road trip” around the Pacific Northwest with his brothers. He is survived by brothers David M. McCune of Scappoose, Oregon; Brian P. McCune of Palo Alto, California; and Kevin J. McCune of Bremerton, Washington; and many nieces and nephews.
A Buddhist funeral and cremation were held on 8 March 2016 at Wat Pa Paeng in Chiang Mai. McCune’s ashes will be returned to Portland, where a party celebrating his life will be held in the near future. Memorial gifts may be made to either Father Ray Foundation, Pattaya City, Thailand, or Father Ray’s Sponsor-a-Child Foundation, Ocean City, NJ.
