Front page story in today’s Falls Church News-Press covers the 100th birthday of a remarkable lifelong civil rights activist and ordained minister, a long-time resident of Falls Church, the Rev. Dr. Bob McCan. The birthday event last Friday, covered in person by this editor, was held in D.C. at the U.S. Peace Institute headquarters near the State Department.

 McCan delivered a half-hour presentation outlining the key points in his lifetime efforts at peace and equality, starting with his experiences in World War II that convinced him of his calling on behalf of peace. It involved his escort of a Japanese-American citizen in the U.S. that his church has sponsored for liberation from a World War II Japanese internment camp in order to attend medical school and the hateful discrimination that student encountered busing across the U.S.

  McCan shared the stage with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. at a Southern Baptist convention and spoke with the civil rights leader often. McCan’s efforts led to the founding of the U.S. Peace Institute and he wrote many books on the subject of peace and equality, including one on the need for LGBTQ+ rights.

   A truly extraordinary life and man, it was an inspiration watching him make his presentation at his own 100th birthday celebration.