1 May 2025

By Bill Miller and Göran R Buckhorn

Former President of the National Rowing Foundation (NRF), a stellar patron of rowing and a proud member of Leander Club, Michael “Mungo” J. Meehan II, passed away on 15 April, age 84.

Meehan was the son of Joseph A. Meehan and Katherine Sullivan and grew up in Manhattan where he attended the Loyola School and later graduated from the Canterbury School in Connecticut. He was an alumnus of the University of Pennsylvania where he was introduced to rowing.

When Mungo Meehan was inducted into the National Rowing Foundation as a Patron in 2022, Bill Miller said the following:

PATRONS are people who have made a difference, a BIG difference in rowing. People who have Given Back at a level well above what would be expected. Sometimes making a difference by financially contributing to the health of rowing. Or perhaps by dedicating huge blocks of time to manage programs or referee regattas so that rowing could thrive and benefit the competitors. Perhaps it’s by changing or influencing the course of rowing in the US.

We induct Patron – Michael J. Meehan… also known as Mungo.

Mike Meehan’s dedication to rowing spans over five decades of giving back big time.

After graduating from U Penn, in 1963, Mungo was approached by his legendary coach, Joe Burk, and asked to head up the Friends of U Penn Rowing. Mungo says it was “a thrill, the greatest honor of my life”. Joe was like a god to Mungo… and many others. And Mungo is still active with Friends of U Penn rowing.

Following graduation, Mungo headed to Wall Street. With success there, he began paying back. And he was able to tap into his other rowing buddies on Wall Street. Mungo is the definition of giving back and he never attached strings to his donations. Jamie Koven says, “He always wanted the donations to be used where it was most needed”.

Mungo has been President of the National Rowing Foundation for decades. He emphasized that the NRF should be inclusive. He added women and lightweights to the Board of Directors. He worked diligently to make sure women’s rowing and lightweight rowing would be fairly treated.

In the mid-1970s he co-founded the Power Ten New York Inc. with the late Frank Shields and has been very involved ever since.

He never gave up the oar, racing in masters’ events, as he says, “until aching bones left him on the embankment”.

Mungo Meehan was a longtime member and supporter of Leander Club. The other day Leander wrote the following on one of its social media accounts:

It is with some sadness and heavy hearts that we announce the passing of Michael “Mungo” Meehan, longtime member and absolutely committed supporter of Leander Club. An accomplished rower and lifetime booster for the sport of rowing, Mungo loved Leander, its illustrious history, the clubhouse’s position adjacent to a Royal Regatta, the in-your-face unapologetic cerise tie and matching socks unmistakenly marking a wearer as being a member of what Mungo called the world’s greatest rowing club. He loved it all to the extent that the picture accompanying every one of the numerous obituaries and tributes to Mungo in the States shows him standing proudly outside of the Henley boat tents, wearing Leander blazer, cerise tie and pin [see photograph on top]. His socks are not visible but as sure as the waters of the Tideway ebb and flow each day under Hammersmith Bridge, you can be confident that his socks on that day were not pink, not salmon. Cerise.