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Glen McLaughlin, age 91, passed away peacefully of old age on May 2, 2026 at his residence in Palo Alto, CA.
He was predeceased by his treasured wife of 57 years, Ellen Marr Schnake McLaughlin. He is survived by his two children, Helen Elizabeth McLaughlin O'Rourke and Glen Wallace McLaughlin; his son-in-law, Brian James O'Rourke, Jr.; and four grandchildren, Brian James O'Rourke III, Ellen Claire O'Rourke, Sophia Rochelle McLaughlin, and Willow Glen McLaughlin. Glen was the oldest of three sons, born to Champe and Mattie Bet (Jenkins) McLaughlin in Shawnee, OK on December 21, 1934. His parents and both brothers, Homer McLaughlin and George McLaughlin, predeceased him.
When Glen was a small boy, his mother Mattie hand sewed for him a green stuffed frog with a light chiffon-yellow belly, which nearly matched him in size. He kept that frog well into his eighties. Frogs became a quiet thread throughout his life. He admired the old symbolism of ordinary creatures that, with learning and love (and a bit of luck, a bit of magic), could turn into princes. He cared deeply about education and continuous learning, always seeking to evolve, to grow into a better person. Yet he still honored the original, collecting frog figurines throughout his life. Following his wife's passing, when he moved in with his daughter and she had unpacked and distributed his cherished frog colony amidst her garden, he was delighted: "Ah, there are my dear old friends." For while Glen surely believed in betterment and transformation, he never denied who he was. Proud of the strength of his rural roots, he remained true to himself. His birthday dinner was fried chicken, biscuits and gravy, okra, and cherry pie. In his beloved home by the creek in Saratoga, he would open his doors in the evening so the chorus of the frogs could fill the rooms.
Glen was not flashy or dramatic. He was steadfast and responsible. He was equal parts accountant and librarian at heart, who tried to keep everyone organized and on top of the many necessary details that life, with all its complications, demands. He was a lifelong learner who read two newspapers a day and always had a book in progress. When he found an article that reflected the passions or interests of someone he cared about, he sent it along with a brief note written in green ink. Those succinct attached notes were his love letters. His family called them greenies. Once, when his daughter needed her original marriage certificate, he mailed it with a greenie reminding her, "Q will not always be here to save Bond."
Beyond his keen regard for self-edification, Glen possessed a genuine love of learning and an insatiable curiosity. Building and monument plaques stopped him in his tracks. He served the Library of Congress, Map Division, through the Phillips Society, from 1995 and was co-chair in 1998-2000. For in addition to his whimsical frogs, Glen's far weightier collection was his 40-year assemblage of antique maps that showed California as an Island. In 2012, he transferred his extensive map collection to his son's doctoral alma mater, Stanford University. In 1995, he published The Mapping of California as an Island, which remains the definitive reference work on the subject.
Glen also loved the movies and would happily go by himself if no one else wanted to see the show. As a child, the cinema was too expensive. In later years, he watched the Academy Awards with pleasure and enjoyed seeking out the nominated Best Picture films, though World War II movies remained his favorite. The comedian John Mulaney jokes about parents who seem to be studying for a World War II test that will never arrive. Papa Glen would have aced it.
Glen graduated from Shawnee High School in 1952 and from the University of Oklahoma in 1956, where he was awarded the Gold Leitzer Medal as the Most Outstanding Senior Man. In 1964 he earned an MBA degree from Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration. At the University of Oklahoma, he was a proud member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon social fraternity, and was a distinguished graduate of the Air Force ROTC program.
Glen hailed from a military tradition. His family served the nation for over 250 years in all its major wars, and he was a proud member of the Society of Colonial Wars as well as the Sons of the American Revolution. He belonged to six military lineage societies. From 1956 to 1962, he served his country as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force, logging 2,200 hours flying C-119s combat troop carriers (flying boxcars) and subsequently in the Air Rescue Service flying SA-16s (flying boats) in Prestwick, Scotland, where he met Ellen Schnake, an elementary school teacher from Canton, OH teaching overseas as a civilian with the Air Force. They courted across two continents for four years and were married in 1964 upon both completing master's degrees.
After receiving his MBA, Glen joined Foremost Dairies, Inc., in 1964, briefly served as executive vice president of McFarland's Candies in Oakland in 1969-1970, and was European Financial Director of Memorex Corporation in London, England from 1970-1971. He joined Four-Phase Systems in Cupertino in late 1971, when it shipped the world's first solid state computer for distributed data processing, and over the next 11 years he worked there as senior vice president and chief financial officer. In 1978, the company secured a New York Stock Exchange listing and merged with Motorola. Inc. in 1982. He next served as a general partner in Matrix Partners LP, a national venture capital fund, from 1982 to 1987, and then founded Venture Leasing Associates, which he operated until 2003.
Glen McLaughlin was a venture capitalist and board member in Silicon Valley. He co-founded 15 companies and served as a director of 32 corporations. In 1985, he co-founded Cupertino National Bank and served as chairman of the Board for six years. The bank was merged in 1996 to become Greater Bay Bancorp where he served on the executive committee until the bank was merged with Wells Fargo Bank in 2007. He was a founding Angel of Twelve of the Band of Angels of Silicon Valley in 1994.
It is not surprising that Glen was a founding Angel, for having been lifted by mentors and youth programs himself, Glen believed in holding the door open wider for those coming behind him. His community life centered on youth development, education, and health. He sought roles that would allow him to drive lasting change: he served Junior Achievement of Santa Clara County as President and Chairman; the Santa Clara University Business School Advisory Board; and the University of Oklahoma's College of Business Administration Board of Advisors, where he endowed a Chair in Business Ethics and an annual national prize for the best research paper in Accounting Ethics. He was a trustee of Gould Academy (1993–1999) in Bethel, Maine. His service was honored by induction into the Junior Achievement Business Hall of Fame; the University of Oklahoma Regent's Alumni Award and the College of Business Administration's Distinguished Alumni Award; and Sigma Alpha Epsilon's The True Gentleman Award. Invested in 1989 in the Sovereign Order of St. John, which is dedicated to supporting social and healthcare needs, he rose to lead its Western Hemisphere region, served continuously on the Sovereign Council, and received the Gold Medal of Merit in 2014. Glen was driven to give back because others once gave to him.
Glen was an avid lifelong traveler, having visited all seven continents, 141 countries, and all 50 states. He and Ellen, his fellow travel adventurer, inspired their children and grandchildren to learn firsthand about the diversity of the world through such travel. This passion was first sparked by his attendance at the 7th World Boy Scout Jamboree in Austria in 1951. Not only did the Boy Scouts give him the travel bug, but Glen credited the Scouts with so much more. The journey from Shawnee, OK to Bad Ischl, Austria and the introduction to boys from more than 60 different parts of the world opened his eyes to our world's wide possibilities.
Back home, the Scout leaders who encouraged him were vital to Glen's continued growth. Scouts helped him develop not only strong leadership skills but indeed also strong survival skills, skills instrumental to a future pilot. When he had the opportunity, Glen paid the Scouts both back and forward. He was a past president of the Santa Clara County Council where he was recognized as a Distinguished Eagle Scout and presented with the Silver Beaver Award and Silver Antelope Award. He served on the National Executive Board of the Boy Scouts of America. As a culmination to his dedication to the Scouts, the Boy Scouts of America honored him with the Silver Buffalo Award, their highest national recognition for service to youth.
The Boy Scouts also played a crucial role in his own family, forming an important bond from Eagle Scout father, to Eagle Scout son, to Eagle Scout grandson, and indeed to his Scouting granddaughter, as well. Glen was so very proud of his son making Eagle Scout and the consummate outdoorsman skills he mastered. For above all, Glen loved his family. He wanted them to succeed, and just as strongly, he wanted them to be happy. In 2018, he completed and published his life story, entitled Transitions, and dedicated it to his four grandchildren so they would know something of their grandfather's life, which was so very different from their own.
Glen showed his love for his family in his encouragement to travel, in the practical ways he lived, in the neat files he kept for them, and in the careful notes he wrote – all inked in green...
When the air cools in the gloaming and the frogs begin their peeping, please listen and think of him.
Godspeed, then, Papa Glen. We leave you here at the edge. We leave you in this place of peace, with all our love:
So forgive me
if I lower my head now and listen
to the short bass candle as he takes a solo
while my heart
thrums under my shirt–
frog at the edge of the pond–
and my thoughts fly off to a province
made of one enormous sky
and about a million empty branches.
– Billy Collins
In lieu of flowers, those wishing to honor Glen's memory might consider a contribution to one of the organizations dear to his heart: 1. Silicon Valley Monterey Bay Council, Boy Scouts of America, with checks made payable to SVMBC and mailed to ATTN: Support Scouting Donation, 1900 The Alameda, Ste. 100, San Jose, CA 95126; or 2. Sovereign Order of St. John of Jerusalem Knights Hospitaller, Priory of the Western USA, with donations mailed to 1128 Thorntree Ct., San Jose, CA 95120-1740.
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