Family mourns motorcyclist killed in Penacook crash
Published: 07-22-2024 8:53 AM
Modified: 07-22-2024 9:04 AM |
Wendy McLauchlan’s tattoos, painted on much of her body, tell the story of her life’s loves and losses. From the birth footprint of her first grandchild to the butterflies signifying her mother’s spirit to the clock memorializing her dad’s health struggles. All but a few of them were inked by her husband, Ian.
Now she points to the spot on her forearm where she plans to get one for him, too.
“It brings me comfort to know that I have him with me,” Wendy said. “He was my soulmate.”
Sixty-three-year-old Ian McLauchlan, who died Monday afternoon in an accident while riding his motorcycle in Penacook, literally left his mark on those he loved. In addition to a career in construction and roofing, he was a tattoo artist and frequently did pieces for friends and family.
His friends and family called him “Scot” both because of his thoroughly Scottish name and also because of his terrier-like qualities as a kid — her new tattoo will be of a Scottish Terrier in his honor.
Ian was a gentle giant, Wendy said. A burly 6-foot-2, with tattoos up and down his arms, he could seem intimidating at first glance. But not to her.
“He’d do anything for me, for you, for anyone,” she said.
“He’d give you the last $20 in his pocket if he thought you needed it more.”
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The two met working in manufacturing in Concord in the late ‘90s and were married in 2002, combining their families, including both of their children and, later, grandchildren. They bought a six-bedroom house in Warner. While they separated a few years ago, Wendy and Ian remained very close. They couldn’t imagine getting divorced — didn’t want to get divorced, she said.
Wendy joked that Ian, 11 years her senior, had been riding motorcycles longer than she’d been alive. It was the thing he loved doing the most. He retired at the beginning of this year and planned to spend as much time as possible on his Harley.
“My heart breaks that he couldn’t enjoy more of it. I mean, that’s what he was doing on Monday was enjoying it,” she said.
Within a day or so of the crash, someone put up a white cross behind the guardrail on Washington Street where it happened. Wendy, some of her kids and grandkids and friends signed it. But strangers came by, too. People stuck flags in the sandy grass at the roadside and brought flowers. Small pebbles and a stars and stripes pin had been perched on the cross-piece. Someone left the butt of a camel cigarette — Ian’s brand — at the base.
Born in Bangor, Maine, and growing up in Nashua, Ian was close with both his parents and his uncle, Bob. The family is very spiritual and owns a house on Webb Lake in Maine.
In his 20s, Ian served six years in the army as an airborne ranger and was stationed in states across the country.
He was an extrovert, a messy cook, a handyman and “an encyclopedia of useless knowledge,” Wendy said. Often, she’d find herself turning to him to say “how do you know that?”
Ian treated Wendy’s three kids, and later, grandkids, as his own. As a parent, his spirituality meant that he raised them to love everyone unconditionally. He was patient and kind, and passed on his skills and passions — whether it be fixing up a car or lawnmower or going for a long ride. Between his two sons and Wendy’s three children, he had 15 grandchildren.
Wendy resents the negative assumptions made about motorcyclists in fatal accidents — she’s seen them in comments online in the last few weeks. There are riders out there who make a risky hobby into a danger, she said. That wasn’t Ian, who she described as a conservative and experienced driver. It isn’t the majority of riders either, she said.
Ian McLauchlan was one of 11 people who died in motor vehicle collisions in New Hampshire between Friday and Tuesday, including two in Concord. No other vehicles were involved in the crash that killed Ian.
He’ll be interred at the state veterans cemetery and, someday, Wendy will join him.
But, for now, she enjoys visiting the cross on Washington Street. With the soft whirr of the Contoocook River flowing by and the wildflowers on the embankment, it’s a peaceful place.
She hopes the cross will be able to stay, to remind drivers in the area to remain cautious.
Catherine McLaughlin can be reached at cmclaughlin@cmonitor.com