Laidler Bowie Mackall ’38

Laidler Bowie Mackall died of congestive heart failure June 6, 2007, in Chevy Chase, Md.

A native of Washington, D.C., Mac attended St. Alban’s School and graduated from Princeton with a bachelor’s in history. He served in the Army Air Force as a bomber pilot in the Pacific and the China-Burma-India theater, and he flew 17 missions “over the hump” of the Himalayas. His military awards included the Distinguished Service Cross, the Silver Star, and the Air Medal. He rose to the rank of colonel.

After earning a law degree from Georgetown University in 1947, Mac joined the Washington law firm of Steptoe & Johnson, becoming a partner in 1952. He was a litigator specializing in railroad law. Mac was a fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers. He retired in 1999.

Mac was a member of the Chevy Chase Club, the Metropolitan Club, and the Moorings Club of Vero Beach, Fla., his winter home. His first marriage to Nancy Taylor ended in divorce. Later, he was happily married for 29 years to Prudence Colbert of Chevy Chase.

Survivors include his wife, three daughters by his first wife, three stepchildren, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren. To each, the class extends its sincere condolences.