During their 20 years of marriage, Malcolm “Toby” Strachan II would show his wife, Alma Chapin Owens, some of the places in Butler where his work made a difference.

Both were born and raised near Buffalo, but Strachan spent about 40 years working as a registered architect with his firm, Malcolm Strachan Planning Consultant in Butler, from 1964 to 2001.

Strachan died March 1, 2021 in Buffalo. He was 90.He moved back to Buffalo to marry his childhood friend, Chapin Owens, in 2001, where he stayed for what would be the remainder of his life.Aside from work in his firm, Strachan was past president of the Butler PM Rotary Club, an emeritus director of the Community Development Corporation of Butler County and an adjunct professor of urban and regional planning at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania. He was also a past chairman of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the American Planning Association and a member of the American institute of Certified Planners.Chapin Owens, Strachan's second wife, said her husband was more keen on working with small groups that needed help, rather than working in large areas such as Pittsburgh, although he worked with the Pittsburgh Regional Planning Association.“He really was happiest taking care of towns that didn't have the money to hire expensive architects,” Chapin Owens said. “He really enjoyed that, and he made good friends with them. He really loved that time (in Butler), more so than his time in Pittsburgh.”Chapin Owens said among his many projects, Strachan was particularly proud of a park he helped design in Indiana.“He designed a big huge park near Indiana University,” Chapin Owens said. “He really liked working on parks and recreation. He was very dedicated to those things.”Strachan and Chapin Owens wed in 2001, both 70-year-old widows who made families before getting married to one another. Strachan's first wife, Claire Anderson, died in 1992, and the couple had raised two sons, Llewelwyn and Malcolm Strachan III, who died in a plane crash in 2005.Although Chapin Owens lived with Strachan in Buffalo, she said the couple's trips back to Butler demonstrated how many friends and colleagues her husband had.“I loved coming down to Butler,” Chapin Owens said. “He had many friends who went to the Butler Country Club. We went to parties with them.”While Strachan had children but no grandchildren, Chapin Owens said he treated her grandchildren as if they were his own.Having shared 20 years of marriage, Chapin Owens said she is glad to have reconnected with Strachan later in life.“It was a good thing because we had a great past,” Chapin Owens said. “It just worked out just right for us.”

Malcolm Strachan