Glenview Microbrewery Survives Death Of Founder

GLENVIEW, IL — When the founder of a Glenview microbrewery died suddenly just months after opening the doors of the business, his wife and family members were determined to keep the dream alive. Mike Welch and his wife Megan opened Macushla Brewing Company last August at 1516 E. Lake Ave.

It sits across the street from Hackney's, which was founded by Welch's great-great-uncle and purchased by his grandfather in 1939 and still run by family members. Macushla means "lifeblood" or "my darling" in Gaelic, according to the brewery.

Welch got into the brewing business after spending more than a dozen years as a bond trader at the Chicago Board of Trade. To get Macushla off the ground, he and his wife sold their house and moved in with family members, according to a profile in the Chicago Tribune.

Then on April 17, Mike died in his sleep at the age of 44. According to the Tribune, the cause was an enlarged heart that gone undiagnosed. After Mike's death, Megan has taken the reigns of the microbrewery, with help from his siblings and cousins.

“I never thought it would be a good decision to say, 'Hey, guess what, Mike’s gone, we’re closing.'" his brother told the paper. "That doesn’t make sense to me and wouldn’t make sense to him."

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