When he eventually got to writing the book, it took him about a year, but as he explained in an interview with The Mirror earlier this week, a massive heart attack and then quadruple bypass surgery extended the timeline. He also had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, but that is “pretty much contained right now,” he said.

He said he missed about five months of writing because of the heart attack, his surgery and the subsequent rehab. He missed out on roughly five months of writing due to those challenges.

“I wasn’t sure I was ever going to write the book,” he said. “I went through a funk.

“I got out and started back to normal life and decided I’ve got to get this written,” he said.

He finished his book, “A Life Lived Amongst Lives Lost: The Life of the Village Undertaker” in October 2024.

McElwain will discuss the book when he serves as guest speaker at Monday’s gathering of Death Club at Tonganoxie Public Library, 217 E. Fourth St. The event will start at 4 p.m. at the library’s community room.

McElwain said he likes to approach his book discussions as question and answer sessions and will utilize that format Monday.

His interest began as a 16 year old and he credits his high school science teacher with encouraging him to pursue the profession.

“I didn’t know anything about the business,” he recalled. “I had no role model, no funeral home in my hometown. Not much was written about it in those days.”

McElwain, now retired, was the President and CEO of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce from 2014-18. He has been an entrepreneur and community leader in Lawrence since July 1972. In his most recent role at the Chamber, McElwain was responsible for managing the day-to-day operations and leading the Chamber’s strategic priorities with oversight for the Economic Development Corporation of Lawrence-Douglas County.

He was a licensed Kansas embalmer and funeral director at Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence from 1973 -2016. He was co-founder and Chairman of the Board of Managers of 21st Century Funeral Company, L.C., which was a regional funeral home acquisition company in Kansas from 1993-2013, which contained 12 funeral homes from across Kansas.

McElwain was born in Wichita and grew up in Maize. He is a 1970 graduate of the University of Kansas with a bachelor’s in public personnel administration and is a 1971 graduate from the San Francisco College of Mortuary Science. He is a former president of the Kansas Funeral Directors Association (1986-87) and served as the primary practitioner legislative lobbyist for KFDA from 1975-2013. He also served on two national committees for the National Funeral Directors Association.

He served in leadership roles on the boards of directors of several Lawrence non-profits. Most recently, he served four years on the Board of Trustees of LMH Health (2018-22). He was a former chairman of the LMH Endowment Association (1983-85) as well.

McElwain was inducted into the Lawrence Business Hall of Fame in 2017.

He is married to Susan Cain McElwain and together they have five children and 13 grandchildren. They currently live in Overland Park.

McElwain will have books available for purchase at the Death Cafe for $20. They also can be purchased from the Raven Bookstore in Lawrence or online at amazon.com.