Obituary of Art MacLean

Art was born on November 15, 1945 to a single mother, Evelyn Gingrich.  Evelyn lived in Los Angeles, California at the time of Art’s birth and when Art was about 2 1/2 years old, Evelyn married Jim MacLean, who adopted Art.

The little family bought a home in Van Nuys, California and Evelyn and Jim had 2 more children, Jimmy and Joanie.

When Art was approximately 12 years old he found out that Jim was not his birth dad.  It was a painful experience for him.

At 17 years old Art graduated from Birmingham High School and enlisted in the U.S. Army.  He was sent to Vietnam as an airborne soldier, where he was wounded in action twice, for which he received 2 purple hearts.

After leaving the Army in 1967, Art married Joanne Johnston and they bought a home in Santa Clarita, California.  They have 2 children, Mike and Wendy and 5 grand-children, William, Jesse, Amelia, Alexia and Jakob.

Art worked as a mailman for the first 19 years of their marriage.  During that time he received Jesus as his Lord and Savior, went to college and received a master’s degree in Marriage Family Counselling.

Upon receiving his degree Art began working for the Department of Children’s Services as a child abuse investigator for 3 years.  After Art received his counselling license, he started doing social work for a group home for boys, he did this for 16 years.

Along with doing social work, Art and Jo joined the staff part-time at the Vineyard Christian Fellowship in Santa Clarita, California, where they ministered in marriage support for couples for about 20 years.

In 2005 Art and Jo moved to Colorado Springs, Colorado where they joined Radiant Church.  They continued to work with some married couples and joined the Intensive Prayer ministry.

In 2018 Art discovered through Ancestry.com that he had a ½ sister by his birth dad.  He was able to connect with her on Facebook and receive photos and a history of his birth dad, which brought him great joy.

In August of 2019, Art was diagnosed with colon cancer and went home to be with the Lord on June 24, 2020.  He is very much loved and missed.