Gordon W. McKay

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Gordon William McKay (March 17, 1910 – October 26, 1990) was an American businessman and Republican politician from Oregon. He served two four-year terms in the Oregon State Senate, representing a large rural district in Central Oregon. While in the Senate, he championed tax relief and helped modernize the state's criminal code. Outside politics, he led a title insurance company in Bend, Oregon.

McKay was born in Aitkin, Minnesota, and moved to Bend, Oregon, with his family as an infant. His father, Clyde McKay, was active in business and community affairs, founding the Bend Company sawmill and later leading the Deschutes County Title and Abstract Company. The family helped push for the creation of Deschutes County, and his father served as county treasurer and on the Bend city council and school board. Gordon McKay finished Bend High School in 1929 and attended the University of Oregon.

He began his career with the Oregon Highway Department in 1930, then worked as a construction engineer for the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. His assignments included Parker Dam on the Colorado River and Marshall Ford Dam near Austin, Texas. He married Melba T. McKay in 1936, and they had two children. In early 1943, McKay joined the U.S. Navy as a Chief Warrant Officer in the Seabees, serving in amphibious operations in the Asiatic-Pacific theater, including the Battle of Tarawa. He left the Navy in 1946 and spent a few years selling real estate in Los Angeles before returning to Bend in 1950.

Back in Bend, McKay became vice president of Deschutes County Title and Abstract Company. His first wife Melba died in 1952, and he later married Evelyn Ruth Watson in 1953. McKay was deeply involved in the community: he led the Bend Kiwanis, served on the Bend-La Pine School Board from 1953 to 1963 (including a term as chair), and participated in several local and regional organizations. He was recognized for his civic work with honors such as Bend’s Boss of the Year in 1959 and Senior Citizen of the Year in 1960.

In 1964, McKay ran for the Oregon State Senate as a Republican and won the seat for District 19, which included Crook, Deschutes, Jefferson, and Lake counties. He served in the 1965 session and was named to the influential Ways and Means Committee. In 1967 he chaired the elections committee and was vice chair of the commerce and utilities committee, while also serving on several other panels. He won a second term in 1968 and focused on tax relief during the 1969 session, chairing the Rules and Resolutions committee and serving on the Ways and Means, constitutional revisions and government reorganization, and judiciary committees.

The 1971 session saw McKay as chair of the Financial Affairs committee and vice chair of the Rules and Resolutions committee, with the judiciary committee also on his plate. He supported legislation to revise the state’s criminal code. After redistricting in 1972, McKay ran for a third term in District 27 (Deschutes and Klamath counties). He carried Deschutes County but narrowly lost in Klamath County to Fred W. Heard, so he left the Senate in January 1973.

Following his legislative career, McKay returned to the title insurance business in Bend. He and his third wife, Della Marjorie (Phillips) McKay, enjoyed travel in a motor home, including frequent trips to watch University of Oregon Ducks football. He died of a heart attack at his Bend home on October 26, 1990, at age 80, and was buried in Pilot Butte Cemetery. His boyhood home, a craftsman bungalow built in 1916, was moved in 1973 and restored with help from the Deschutes County Historical Society; it now operates as McKay's Cottage restaurant.