Born: June 27, 1893
Died: April 14, 1958
Married: Eleanor Kindlund
Dr. Mack McConkey was the assistant Medical Director at the Ray Brook State Tuberculosis Hospital where he worked for 22 years. He was famous for prescribing the "Ray Brook cocktail," cod liver oil floating on a glass of orange juice.
Adirondack Daily Enterprise, April 15, 1958
Staff member 22 Years
Dr. McConkey of Ray Brook Dies
Dr. Mack McConkey, 64, a member of the staff of Ray Brook State Hospital for Tuberculosis for 22 years, died at his home on McKenzie Pond at noon Monday after a long illness.
His body is at the Fortune funeral Home in Saranac Lake. Survivors include his wife, the former Eleanor Kindlund, and two sisters, Mrs. Gladys Parkin of Dallas, Tex. and Mrs. Helen Terry, of McAllen, Tex.
Dr. McConkey was born in Shawnee, Okla., June 22, 1893 a son of George S. and Adeline McConkey. During World War I, he was associated with the medical corps in France in laboratory work. In 1925, he graduated from the Harvard Medical College and following a term of internship at a Cleveland, Ohio hospital, joined the staff of the Ray Brook hospital in 1926. In 1932 he was made first assistant to the late Dr. Harry Bray, who was then Medical director of the institution. He retired from this work in 1948 because of ill health and had continued to reside in this area until his death.
He was a member of the American Clinical and Climatological association; the Saranac Lake Medical Society and the Osler Club. He was also internationally known for his endeavors in intestinal and bronchial tuberculosis research. Dr. and Mrs. McConkey were married on a houseboat cruiser on Lower Saranac Lake on June 25, 1932 by the Rev. Hiram W. Lyons, then pastor of the Saranac Lake Presbyterian Church.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, friends contribute to the Saranac Lake Society for the Control of Tuberculosis or the Saranac Lake Free library. Services will be held at the Funeral Home at 2 p m on Thursday. The Rev. Clair E. Carpenter, of Lake Placid will officiate.
