Obituary

Malcolm Drummond passed peacefully on December 20th, 2023. He was visiting the home of his daughter Heather, son-in-law Topher, and granddaughters Emilyn and Aileen in Longmont, Colorado. He frequently visited them for Christmas and Easter, traveling from his home in Henrietta, NY. He was 86 years old, and a lifelong Christian Scientist.

Malcolm was born in London, England, the same house and room that his mother Winifred had been born in. He was the oldest of three: he is survived by his younger sisters Annabella and Flora Olivia. He was proud of his Scottish heritage, as he was a descendant of the Drummonds from Perth, the Earl of Perth being a distant relative. As Malcolm was the first in the line on the Drummond family tree, he would have inherited the title of Earl if not for an ancestor marrying an Indian woman and renouncing the title. Or so the story goes – apparently the records burned in a fire. Nevertheless he and family enjoyed visiting Drummond Castle several times, and were grateful they actually didn’t have to take care of it.

Malcolm often recalled his childhood years during the World War II bombing raids, where he would hear the air raid sirens and sleep in underground shelters. His father George was in the army during the first few years of his life, and when George returned home, Malcolm didn’t recognize him, telling his mother “There’s a soldier at the door.” From age 12-16 he lived in Plymouth, Devon, watching the town rebuild from the war, and enjoying hiking and biking with his friends.

He was inspired as a child by watching his father, a mechanical engineer, create designs with fine accuracy and detail. With this fascination, coupled with a strong work ethic, Malcolm excelled at his studies, winning several school awards. For homework he would complete more math problems than were assigned, and he was especially motivated to solve those deemed too difficult by his teachers. He graduated with honors from the City University of London with his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering.

During his early adulthood he had an experience that would shape his spiritual beliefs and religious conviction for the rest of his life. After a severe car accident he was taken to the hospital, and his family was told if he survived he would be paralyzed for life. While reading a Christian Science article, he felt a transformation take place both spiritually and physically, and had an out-of-body experience. He was fully healed and walked out of the hospital. He would often share this healing with family, friends and at church meetings, saying that the experience remained as vivid in his memory as if it happened yesterday. (He published an account of this healing in the Christian Science Sentinel.)

Malcolm moved to Rochester NY, arriving “during the Great Blizzard of ‘66” to work with General Dynamics. He met his wife Linda at the First Church of Christ Scientist in Rochester about a year later. On their first outing together, they took a trip in a private plane flown by a mutual friend, where they visited the Montreal World’s Fair. They married in May of 1968, and daughter Heather was born three years later. In 1973 they moved to Henrietta and had a son, Kevin, who passed away the summer of the following year. Around this time Linda fell ill and became bedridden for several months. Malcolm took care of her at home as well as working full-time and taking care of their young daughter. They had been planning a trip to Boston for the Annual Meeting of the Christian Science church, and Linda was very disappointed she couldn’t go because it was the first time her mother would be joining them. Malcolm said “You are going to that meeting even if I have to carry you all the way.” And they did – inspired by his words, Linda fully recovered. (Her full testimony can be read here).

He enjoyed many years of work and volunteer work throughout his life. His professional biography was printed in Who’s Who of Distingushed Professionals 2021 as an Executive Spotlight. The text of that is here.

Linda was the love of Malcolm’s life. He attended all of her musical performances with Sweet Adelines, traveling with her when the group performed in Hawaii and Ireland. The couple took trips to Australia and Nova Scotia as well as several visits to see his family in England. They enjoyed frequent road trips to visit Heather and Topher, stopping at Cracker Barrel restaurants along the way. Malcolm was Linda’s support, partner and caregiver until she passed in 2009. He never took off his wedding ring, as he felt he would be married to her as long as he would live. Her sisters and brothers continued to be a regular part of his life, and took care of his house and parakeets while he was away.

After retirement, Malcolm continued volunteer work for the East Rochester Christian Science church and other Christian Science organizations such as the Principle Foundation, Principia Club of Rochester, Care and Service, and his Christian Science Association as the secretary/treasurer. He also wrote articles for the Christian Science periodicals. He spent many hours every day in the study and practice of Christian Science, sometimes taking on patients who called him for prayerful help. He would never charge for this, as he did it purely out of love. His empathy and yearning to heal the world’s problems inspired his interest in news and world events, and he dedicated time to whatever he heard that day that needed his prayer.

Malcolm loved being a grandfather. When Emilyn and Aileen were small, he never hesitated to play with them, kneeling on the floor and participating in various pretend games, including letting Emilyn put curlers in his hair! As the girls grew, he loved attending their concerts and dance recitals and would eagerly wait for Heather’s videos when he couldn’t be there in person. Malcolm was an avid lover of classical music, and his favorite composer was Tchaikovsky. He had a violin growing up, which he taught himself to play, and so thoroughly enjoyed that not only his daughter but both his granddaughters learned to play violin. When Emilyn was learning percussion at school, he helped her buy a marimba for practice at home, and also bought new violin bows for the girls. He was a very generous person, always offering to pay for meals, loved giving gifts and making others happy.

In the last four years, as Malcolm had been traveling less, he would attend church services over Zoom, and felt that he could experience a true “church without walls/borders.” On Sunday mornings, due to timezone differences, he could attend three church services in a row from his home: first the East Rochester service, then the Brentwood, MO service, then the Loveland, CO service. He was never shy about saying hello and giving testimonies of his healing experiences and inspirations over Zoom, and developed friendships just from these weekly connections. Many of these new friends of his remarked how much his comments and sharing had helped them.

Malcolm dedicated so much of his life in the service to others. Although he is greatly missed, his love has touched so many lives, and his influence has certainly made an impact in our world for the better.