Harvey Grant McElhiney (Grandpa)

Also known as H.G. McElhiney, or just "Mac" by close friends and family, he was a self-centered man who was raised by his mother, Aura G. McElhiney. In his later years in life, he lived in Billerica, Massachusetts with his roommate Brian J. Higgins, Sr., until his death in June, 1998. He worked for the CCC camp program during the Great Depression, and had a background of employment originally with the U.S. Navy when he served on the U.S.S. Yorktown, which he had an uncompleted amateur model kit that he gave to Patrick, who put it together years later. We do not know what happened to the model.

Harvey later worked at the Textron Corporation, where he was building cluster bombs for allied forces during the Vietnam War. He had a lot of financial stock in Textron from his time working there, however he was not a very rich man. When he died, he still owed money to a local electronics dealer for a Television that was likely 20+ years old. In his room in Billerica, he had all kinds of different tools that we believed he had stole from Textron while he worked there. They were like the crown jewels of Grandpa's belongings after he died. Patrick R. McElhiney used them for his electronics work in high school, while they were in the possession of Michael A. McElhiney, Harvey's son, up until 2005 when Patrick moved with his mother to New Hampshire.

Mac had a light fixture that looked like the old communication systems in ships, that would tell the people in the engine room how to adjust the thrust. He also was into flags and their meanings, and had a custom flag that was made that represented his initials, HGM. There was also a television that he still had not paid off at the time of his death.

He also had pictures of McElhiney family members up on his walls. Harvey was estranged from his ex-wife, Dottie (Dorothy) McElhiney.

Michael and Patrick McElhiney visited Mac in Massachusetts multiple times, in 2001 at the home he resided in, and in 1997 at a trailer he was living in with the same roommate. Patrick's sister, Crystal McElhiney, played flute for Grandpa in 2001 in his room. Michael and Patrick McElhiney drove Mac around the state to see various sites that he had worked at, including a tunnel that was built for a steam train, and the CCC camp. Grandpa expressed his distaste for those "God dam bucket seats!!!", according to Mac, that he experienced when driving over railroad tracks when he was visiting California.

Harvey was well known in a local diner, where he usually ate every morning.

Mac had 8 children, including in order of birth:

Kathy McElhiney
Julie McElhiney (deceased)
Michael Arthur McElhiney
Mari McElhiney
Margie McElhiney
Brian McElhiney
David McElhiney
Sue McElhiney

H.G. McElhiney also had a lot of collectables, including model trains, model ships, war memorabilia such as patches, and other items. We do not know why there was a confederate flag hanging above his air conditioner. We never witnessed him making racist comments, though he lived in isolation for the later years in his life, so it is difficult to tell. The McElhiney family definitely does not associate with the confederate flag - the photos are shown simply for sentimental purposes for identifying a relative that has long passed away.