Inductees

There’s a saying that everybody has to grow up sometime. For Chip McGeehan, sometime has always been beyond the next deer stand.

“I never had kids,” McGeehan said with a laugh, “so I’m the kid in my own family.”

In other words, he is among those who has loved to live life – especially in the outdoors – and his career is why the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame proudly inducted McGeehan with the Class of 2020.

A 1968 graduate of Jefferson City High School and 1972 graduate of the University of Missouri, McGeehan served as Commissioner of the Missouri Department Conservation from 2005 to 2011.

Not that he was satisfied with simply holding the title of an unpaid position. Far from it. Instead, he became a positive influence.

After being appointed by then-Gov. Matt Blunt, McGeehan championed the re-introduction of elk into the state’s wildlife population. That led to the department in June 2019 announcing a limited elk-hunting season in 2020, when the herd was likely to reach 200 animals. Additionally, McGeehan oversaw the development of habitat of Missouri’s black bear population.

This for a Missourian who in college had worked for the Missouri Department of Conservation in fisheries management and long aspired to become the Commissioner of the Missouri Department of Conservation.

Yet his dream was put on hold, as McGeehan went into the business world. Fortunately, along the way, he befriended local entrepreneur Robert Plaster, who ultimately encouraged Gov. Blunt to think of McGeehan for the Commissioner’s job.

“It was still in the back of my mind,” said McGeehan, who along with his wife, Teresa, own/operate 19 McDonald’s franchises in southwest Missouri. “When I was named Commissioner in 2005, it was a lifetime dream come true. It’s one of the most sought-after positions. To be appointed then – to oversee 1,500 employees and a $200 million budget – it was a full-time job for me.”

Looking back, McGeehan still cannot believe all the hours he put in. Then again, it didn’t feel like a job.

“When Gov. Blunt asked, ‘Are you interested?’ I couldn’t thank him fast enough,” McGeehan said. “I told Teresa that I’m going to do everything I possibly can do to make even a small difference for conservation.”

McGeehan took it upon himself to attend meetings across the state, listening to hunters, anglers and citizens and gain an understanding of where the state needed to head next as it grew its reputation as a champion of the outdoors.

“It was the most fun six years of my life,” McGeehan said.

Then again, the outdoors had long been near and dear to McGeehan, who received his first single-shot shotgun when he was 9 years old and learned from his grandpa how to use a bow and arrow.

“That love of the outdoors goes back to then,” McGeehan said. “We used to hunt rabbit, deer and turkey.”

One of his favorite memories was skipping church on a Sunday morning so that he could hunt.

“I said I was sick and didn’t want to go,” McGeehan said. “So I snuck out with my bow and arrow and shot a rabbit. Of course, I thought it was like a duck and started plucking the fur. When my dad got home, he started laughing. He knew what happened.”

That passion for hunting only grew, in part because of his dad as well a path leading to friendships with several hunters.

“My dad was a dentist, and I told him that’s what I wanted to do,” McGeehan said. “But he told me, ‘If it’s not your passion, you shouldn’t go to dental school.’ I took his word.”

Years later, he befriended hunters Charlie Schwartz, Don Wooldridge and Glenn Chambers.

“Those are the people that took me under their wing and shared their passion and desire,” McGeehan said. “That’s why I wanted to leave the Department of Conservation better than I found it.”

Through the years, McGeehan, an avid bow hunter, has traveled to Alaska, Africa, Sweden and across the United States – harvesting crocodiles, elephants, lions and leopards with his bow.

And he takes it seriously, spending months training his body before heading out to hunt in the African country of Zambia, where he oversees a 200,000-acre property on a grass reserve that houses a hunting service and employs 27 locals. His Africa trips began thanks to Derrick Van Staden and his son, Jaco.

“I’ve just been fortunate my entire life to be a part of the outdoors,” McGeehan said.