Russell Arthur McNair ’56

Mac died Feb. 23, 2025.

He came to Princeton from Grosse Pointe (Mich.) High School South, in the city where he lived most of his life. He joined Tiger Inn, where he was chair of the party committee and played IAA football and tennis, and majored in economics and sociology. After earning his law degree at the University of Michigan, Mac took a position at the Dickinson Wright law firm in Detroit, where he remained for his professional life and was chair from 1994 to 1998. He was active in community activities and served on numerous boards including the Children’s Home of Detroit, where he served as president.

Mac married Rosemary Chesbrough in 1957 at Grosse Pointe Memorial Church, and they shared three children and seven grandchildren with whom he loved playing games including tennis, paddle tennis, golf, and card games — especially bridge, Pedro, and Oh Hell. Mac loved life, and everyone in his orbit knew it.

Rosemary died a year before him; they were predeceased by their son Douglas Stuart. Mac is survived by daughter Julie McNair Schwerin and her husband Michael, and son Rusty and his wife Jennifer Kohnen; seven grandchildren; and six great-grandchildren.