Donald “Otto” McCaughey Jr., age 85, of Bel Air, MD, passed away June 26, 2021. Heralded as an influential figure in the flexographic printing and converting world for 55-plus years, he was vice chairman and founding partner of Mark Trece Inc in Fallston, MD.
Born in Scranton, PA, he was the son of the late Donald George and Mary M. (McGuire) McCaughey and husband of Brenda J. (Armstrong) McCaughey. He graduated from the Rochester Institute of Technology with a B.F.A. with a concentration in printing management and sciences. Years later, he was inducted into the RIT Basketball Hall of Fame. Additionally, he was a veteran of the US Naval Reserve.
McCaughey founded Mark Trece with partner Richard Godfrey in 1962. He was a member of many industry trade groups such as FTA, TAPPI and a founding member of FPPA. Today, Mark Trece has manufacturing and sales operations in nine locations in the US and Caribbean, and is recognized as standing among pioneers in the prepress plate making industry. Several prominent clients rank among top Fortune 500 consumer product companies. Mark Trece insists its standards for developing creative packaging/display solutions have remained consistent since McCaughey presided over their establishment in 1962—to provide outstanding quality, trusted reliability, industry-leading expertise and exceptional service to assist clients in achieving great consumer experiences for their end products.
Personal interests focused a great deal on sport. McCaughey sat on the Board of Trustees for The John Carroll School and helped to advance the athletic programs during the 1980s. He was a longstanding member of area country clubs and was part owner of Tall Ship Clipper City in Baltimore. He was an avid college basketball fan and long-time ticket holder for the Baltimore Colts, Ravens and Orioles; plus, he was a Youth Rec coach for Bel Air Youth Basketball.
FTA members remembered McCaughey fondly. Mark Mazur, FIRST Committee chair and FTA Hall of Fame member, described him as “a wonderful person.” Fellow Hall of Fame member Mark Samworth remembered, “Don was indeed a very wonderful man. He radiated positivity and joy like few people I have ever met. When my nephew David began at RIT, I wanted him to meet Don just so that some of the positive energy from Don would transfer into David. One thing they had in common is that they were both student athletes at RIT—Don in basketball, David in soccer (Don was the captain and leading scorer on the only undefeated basketball team in the history of RIT). Of course, I did not plan the trip with the expressed goal of just having Dave meet Don, but that was definitely my hidden agenda. Don spent a lot of time with us discussing a range of subjects. Later [Cindy Ashton, plant manager] was giving us a tour of Mark Trece and was inquiring as to which parts of the operation we wanted to see in the greatest detail. I had to pull her aside and tell her that the whole point of the trip was just to soak up the positive energy from Don. I said, ‘I know this sounds weird, but do you know what I mean?’ She replied, ‘I absolutely know what you mean!’”
In addition to his wife, McCaughey is survived by his two daughters, Shawn and Melinda; and two sons, Chris and Richard.