Owen McGhee
Born: August 5, 1938;
Died: January 28, 2026
Owen McGhee was born in Dennistoun, Glasgow, and attended Haghill Primary School before moving to Whitehill Secondary. He began his working life at the Templeton carpet factory on Glasgow Green. Although he didn’t know it at the time, Glasgow Green was to become a place that would define his life and shape the man he would become.
In 1957, aged 19, he joined Clydesdale Rowing Club, at the heart of Glasgow Green. He had been introduced to the club by a friend and claimed he only went because he liked the club tie! He joined during the club’s centenary year. Within two years, he won his first Scottish title and was then part of the Scottish Eight that contested for a place in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. In the final selection race, they were beaten by four feet by a crew from Oxford University, which went on to represent Great Britain.
He was subsequently chosen to represent Scotland and competed for his country at rowing events at home and abroad. He also immersed himself in the administrative side of Clydesdale, taking on roles including secretary, vice-president and president. He was also a founder member of Castle Semple Rowing Club in Lochwinnoch and later became the club’s third president.
Later in his rowing career, in September 2000, he won a world rowing title in Belgium at the World Masters Regatta in a pair with his lifelong friend Duncan Paterson. Winning a world title is a remarkable achievement in its own right, but what made it astonishing was that Owen had been diagnosed with motor neurone disease the year before and had been told “your body will succumb to MND within five years”.
This was a diagnosis that could have led Owen down a path of despair. But he took a very different approach. He adopted an analytical and pragmatic approach to MND, with a stubborn belief in what could still be done rather than what would be taken away by the disease. Rowing continued for many years afterwards, providing not only physical conditioning but something deeper, a sense of normality. When he was in the boat, he said, he did not have MND.
As the disease progressed, Owen adapted rather than withdrew. He developed a theory that the body had a way of working around things if you kept doing that which it didn’t want to do. He developed a regime of high-repetition activities to help keep his body active. He found that he had a problem stepping up high steps, such as the boulders encountered on frequent solo ascents of Ben Lomond, so he replicated this at home by doing step-ups using a chair. Eight weeks later, he could perform 1,300 step-ups.
When speech became difficult, he turned to poetry and song. He recited Tam o’ Shanter daily, not as a performance but as a form of exercise. This was a way of keeping hold of rhythm, voice and identity. Illness was never allowed to define him, though he never denied its reality.#
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The courage Owen showed in tackling MND was simply part of the man he was. In 1981, he jumped off the Jamaica Bridge in Glasgow at night to rescue a man from the River Clyde, an act that led to him being awarded a Royal Humane Society Testimonial on Vellum. On another occasion, during a family holiday in Germany, he led another dramatic river rescue, this time on the River Rhine, where he was directly responsible for saving a ten-year-old boy who was drowning. Those who knew him were unsurprised. When action was required, Owen acted.
Alongside this personal resolve ran a profound commitment to others. Owen devoted years to Young Enterprise Scotland, Quarriers Abbeyfield and MND Scotland, serving latterly as vice-chairman.
For his services to charity and sport, he was awarded an MBE in 2009. This recognised not only the time he gave but the spirit in which he gave it. He believed deeply in encouragement, especially of young people. To friends and family, he was known affectionately as “Big Owen”. Not because of his physical stature, but because of his presence. He saw the best in people, often before they saw it in themselves and, as a result, had a profound impact on the lives of the many people he met.
Owen spent 25 years with IBM in Greenock, rising to senior management roles that he delivered to the highest standards and with an unusual degree of humanity. He believed organisations worked best when people were respected, listened to and encouraged, and he will be remembered as a manager who lived those values daily.
Yet work, like sport, was only one strand of a much broader life. Owen was endlessly curious, physically adventurous and socially generous. He climbed mountains, ran a sub-three-hour marathon, windsurfed, dived and sailed. He formed friendships easily and deeply, many of them lasting decades and stretching across continents.
Among those friendships were connections that reflected the breadth of his interests. He was delighted to become close friends with Scott Carpenter, the American astronaut who was the second American to orbit the Earth in Aurora 7. They spent many happy times together in Scotland and the United States, and Owen delighted in showing Scott the landscapes of Scotland he loved best.
Food, too, was a passion of Owen’s. He spent many happy hours at the Braeval Old Mill cook school near Aberfoyle, learning from Nick Nairn and bringing those skills home with pride. Family meals, celebrations and barbecues bore the marks of that enthusiasm.
Owen and his wife Helen loved spending time in the Trossachs and became well-known figures there, developing lifelong friendships. They would stay at Tigh Mhor and spend many happy hours in places such as the Brig o’ Turk tea room. He was delighted when it was bought and restored by Kay and her husband a few years ago.
Owen lived an incredible life. He gave generously of his time and energy, supporting others whenever he could. He will be remembered as a loyal friend, a committed sportsman and a man who quietly made a difference to many people.
At The Herald, we carry obituaries of notable people from the worlds of business, politics, arts and sport but sometimes we miss people who have led extraordinary lives. That's where you come in. If you know someone who deserves an obituary, please consider telling us about their lives. Contact garry.scott@heraldandtimes.co.uk
