Arch McColl, ConCom chairman, caring father will be missed
BY MARY LANCASTER
He was known as a devoted community member, excellent mechanic and giving, generous man. Archibald "Arch" McColl, chairman of the Conservation Commission and member of the Harbor Study and Capital Programs Committees, died suddenly Sunday morning, Oct. 22 after suffering a fatal heart attack. He was 52.

Arch McColl

Born in Washington, D.C., Mr. McColl spent most of his life in Lincoln, Mass., but was stationed for a stretch in Boston 25 years ago when he was in the U.S. Coast Guard. A self-taught mechanic and sailor and a collector of time pieces, he moved to Nantucket in 1997. For many years he was chief mechanic at the Department of Public Works before starting his own vehicle repair venture, Highland Automotive, and driving antique cars for the family business called Highland Drivers.

"We missed him when he left," said DPW director Jeff Willett. "He was dedicated and he knew his business. It is sad to hear that he passed away."

Mr. McColl's mother, Diane Coombs, said he lived part of the time with her and the rest of the time on his boat. Besides his involvement for five years with the ConCom and being on the two committees, Mr. McColl was a candidate to fill the current vacant selectman's seat. At the request of his family, his name will remain on the Nov. 21 election ballot.

"Arch was very active in town. He felt very strongly about Nantucket, and that's why he wanted to run for selectman," said Coombs. "In the time he was here he made some very good friends. He was a well-liked person. He was the best that you could have."

Dirk Roggeveen, the ConCom administrator, has known Mr. McColl since he joined the commission and thought highly of him.

"We're going to miss him immensely," he said. "He brought to our deliberations a wonderful sense of concern for the environment as well as common sense. He ended up being a good friend to everyone he worked with, so we will miss him terribly. It's sad. He would help people [as a mechanic] without charging them. He was just a caring guy."

David Gray also knew Mr. McColl from serving together on the ConCom, but first met him years earlier through his car repair business.

"Arch was a guy who thought more about the environment than most anyone I know," said Gray, adding that he was aware of how proud McColl was of his children. "He is going to be sorely missed."

Scott Harris, a very close friend of Mr. McColl, jokingly described his pal as "cantankerous."

"I loved him to death and I would give him the shirt off my back," said Harris. "He was a very caring, cranky, cantankerous s.o.b. He was good people. Whenever I needed something Archie was always there for me, and I did the same for him."

Mr. McColl was predeceased by his father, Archibald M.S. McColl, and a grandson, Ethan J. Mize, of Kansas. He leaves his mother, Diane Coombs and stepfather David Coombs of Nantucket; brother Peter McColl, of Wilton, N.H.; sister Diane Holdgate and brother-in-law Bruce Holdgate of Nantucket; his wife, Delight McColl of Nantucket; and two daughters, Anna McColl, an Air Force staff sergeant stationed in Fort Dix, N.J., and DeeDee McColl, a Smith graduate working as marketing manager for the John Harding Fragrance Bar in Newburyport, Mass.

A service for Mr. McColl will be held at 11 a.m. on Sat., Oct. 28 at the Unitarian Church with the Rev. Ted Anderson officiating.

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