Matthew “Wren” MacLean, a 37-year resident of South Whidbey, died peacefully in his sleep on Nov. 15, 2017. He was 100 years old.

Wren was born on July 20, 1917 in Mishawaka, Ind. Early on the family moved to Arlington, Mass., for a couple of years and then on to Upper Montclair, N.J., where he lived until graduating from the University of Michigan in 1939. He started work at the B.F. Goodrich Co. in Akron, Ohio. From there he worked at eight different companies in four more states.

In 1941, he married Mitzi Capron. They spent most of the next 40 years in Rockford, Ill., where they raised four daughters. He and Mitzi retired in 1980 and moved to Whidbey Island to join three of their daughters who had also relocated to the Northwest. Wren and Mitzi often referred to this time as the happiest days of their lives. He enjoyed his expanding family, friends, travel, golf, bridge, stained glass work, volunteering and his church. He and Mitzi were co-Hometown Heroes, and Wren was still volunteering at Helping Hand and Good Cheer until his death.

Wren was preceded in death by his wife Mitzi. His survivors include his daughters Bonnie Arndt, Carol McNeil, Susie MacLean and Beth Gearhart, and seven grandchildren and numerous great-grandchildren.

Wren asked that the following quote be included in his obituary: “Thank you to all who have helped me in any way. To those whom I have helped — Praise the Lord. To those whom I have hurt — I am sorry.”

A memorial service will be held at 2 p.m. on Jan. 6, 2018, at St. Augustine’s in-the-Woods Episcopal Church in Freeland.