Those who knew Lockerbie Scholar and Syracuse University student Andrew McClune said they will remember him for much more than what ended his life.

They said they will remember his smile, athleticism, compassion and intelligence when they think of him throughout their lives and at a memorial for McClune at 3 p.m. today in Hendricks Chapel.

Dr. Lawrence Mason, a professor in the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, said last spring he went to Lockerbie with some photography students who were photographing Andrew. When one of the photos came back without McClune smiling in it, they dismissed it as an anomaly.

‘Andrew not smiling is like a day without sunshine,’ Mason said.

For those who only interacted with McClune briefly, his constant smile still made an impact.

Chancellor Kenneth A. Shaw had minimal personal interaction with McClune, but the one occasion they did interact was at the ceremony formally acknowledging the Lockerbie Scholars. Shaw said what he remembered of McClune from their one meeting was the big smile on McClune’s face as he approached Shaw to receive his award.

McClune was not the kind of person who was only able to smile when things were going well or during events in his honor, such as an award ceremony, but he was also someone able to smile when pressure was on in competition both for the Lockerbie Scholar program and on the athletic field, said Melissa Chessher, a Newhouse professor who spent last spring in Lockerbie.

Chessher saw McClune and the other candidates for the Lockerbie Scholarship go through the process that results in the selection of two students.

This included an interview via satellite with two Newhouse professors working in London. The professors asked the students questions about why they thought they were qualified, what they hoped to do in the future and what they wanted to study. McClune was never bothered by these questions, she said.

‘Andrew never seemed stressed,’ Chessher said. ‘I have never seen a person who so effortlessly had a smile on his face.’

Jeff Lutz, a freshman broadcast journalism major and a teammate of McClune on the SU club curling team, said McClune was always friendly, chatting with players from the other team during the match and enjoying himself. McClune not only enjoyed sports, but he was a good athlete as well, Mason, who saw McClune play for his town’s cricket team against a rival, he said.

Most of the players on both sides were much older than him, but it was clear to see McClune was physically gifted in athletics, Mason said.

Besides playing cricket, McClune curled from the time he was 8 years old and played basketball and racquetball, but not golf, the game many in his native country Scotland are so passionate about, Mason said. When Mason asked McClune about this, he said he could never see the sense of hitting a ball as far as you can and chasing after it to only hit it as hard as you can again.

Many of those in the observation deck at the Utica curling club where the SU team would play were amazed at McClune’s skill and grace on the ice, he said.

‘I am a photographer and I have photographed great athletes like Michael Jordan, one of the most graceful athletes I have ever seen, play basketball a few times, Bo Jackson play football and Ken Griffey, Jr., play baseball,’ Mason said. ‘Andy reminded me of them when he was curling.’

McClune is the older brother of three, twins Lain and Alexander, 16, and 10-year-old Christopher.

Chessher said McClune was the perfect older brother, taking care of his siblings by packing their lunches and helping them with their homework. McClune also leaves behind a mother and a step-father, Deborah and Sandy Scott, who married last summer.

McClune’s father James committed suicide about a year-and-a-half ago and McClune became the man of the house, taking care of his brothers and mother through the difficult time, said Ruth McNay, the other Lockerbie Scholar at SU who has known McClune since they were 5 years old.

Scott and Deborah married last summer so McClune could be involved with the wedding, Chessher said. McClune was happy about the wedding because it assured him that his brothers and his mother would be all right as he came to study in the United States.

McClune was the apple of his mother’s eye. While Chessher was in Lockerbie, she spent a significant amount of time in the library where Andrew’s mother worked. Hardly a week went by without McClune’s picture being in the local paper because of his involvement in some activity or event at school, such as talent competitions to raise money, and his mother would always make sure that Chessher had seen the photo, she said.

Besides being involved in many school activities, McClune was the head boy of his house, Kirtle, within the Lockerbie Academy, Mason said.

Many looked up to McClune as an inspiration in athletics, academics and activities in the school, he said.

The head boy is also someone who is a mixture between academics and popularity, someone who is not afraid to talk to people, McNay said.

‘Andrew was the kind of guy people would aspire to be,’ Mason said. ‘Everyone grows up and in their school, there is someone they think they would love to be him because he is so athletic, handsome and smart. That person almost lives in a state of grace.’

Mason said he will not remember McClune solely as a great athlete or a student in his communications and society class but will remember the compassion and concern McClune showed when two of Mason’s friends from Lockerbie died in a car accident in October.

When McClune found out this happened, he sent Mason a note and went to his office, saying if he needed a place to stay for the funeral in Lockerbie, he was welcome in the McClune household.

‘It seems to me to come to someone with that compassion in an unsolicited way is not what you would always expect from someone at that age,’ Mason said.

McClune cared about the people he met and interacted with on a personal level, Lutz said. He was not concerned with showing off but with caring for each person on a individual basis.

The active lifestyle of McClune was not left behind in Scotland.

When he came to SU, he became involved with the curling club, was active in playing other sports and also was involved in the Air Force Reserve Officers Training Course, Mason said.

He was involved with ROTC even though he already had a full scholarship as a Lockerbie Scholar because he wanted to fly in Britain’s Royal Air Force. McClune was interested in the way the U.S. Air Force trained, Mason said.

McClune was trying to get everything out of his experience in the United States and did things that surprised those that knew him best, Judy O’Rourke, the liaison for the Lockerbie Scholars, said. The scholars come to SU earlier than most students and stay with O’Rourke’s family.

McClune stayed with the O’Rourkes and stayed in touch throughout the semester through dinners at O’Rourke’s house, she said. In October the O’Rourke family and McClune went apple picking and then made an apple pie, O’Rourke said. When O’Rourke told this story to McClune’s mother, she was shocked because when he was home, McClune never cooked.

Although McClune had already done many things with his time, he had planned to do more. He planned on traveling to Florida and New York City to see the ball drop on New Year’s Eve during his Winter Break, Mason said. He was enjoying his time at SU and had made more friends than any first-year student Mason had ever seen.

‘Sometimes in popular music they say that only the good die young,’ Mason said. ‘That was Andy, one of the good.’

Published on February 17, 2003 at 12:00 pm