McClure, Rev. Eugene L. 1901-1984

MCCLURE, HOWELL, HUFF, SNELL, MILLER, JOHNSON

Posted By: Marilyn Holmes (email)
Date: 6/7/2011 at 14:01:06

The Grinnell Herald-Register; June 7, 1984

REV. MCCLURE RITES FRIDAY

The Rev. Eugene L. McClure, 82, of the Mayflower Home died Tuesday, June 5, at the Mayflower Home Health Care Center.

Funeral services will be conducted at 1 p.m. Friday at the United Methodist Church in Victor, with the Rev. Jack Weida, pastor of the church, officiating. Organist will be Lynn Dentel.

Pallbearers will be David Dolmage, Russell Fetzer, Delmar McWilliams, Charles Ranfeld, Everett Refer and LaVerne Weiskopp. Honorary bearers will be Orville Bloethe, Merlin Hull, George Kettering, Richard Park, Walter Provin and Cecil Schrader. Burial will be in Hazelwood Cemetery here.

Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Smith Funeral Home. Memorials in Mr. McClure's name may be made to Hillcrest Family Services, 2005 Asbury Rd., Dubuque, Iowa 52001.

The son of Hugh and Nettie Howell McClure, he was born Sept. 12, 1901, at Joplin, Mo. He attended Asbury College at Wilmore, Ky., and later graduated from John Fletcher College at University Park, Iowa. On June 4, 1929, he was married to Lillian F. Huff in Grinnell.

The Rev. and Mrs. McClure served in Methodist Churches in many Iowa communities from 1929 to 1943. During World War II, he served as a chaplain with the U.S. Army.

Following the war, he attended the Graduate School of Social Service at the University of Chicago. He later served as the superintendent of the David Margaret Home for Children at LaVerne, Calif., and the Home for Children at Williamsville, N.Y. He also served as executive director of the Susanna Wesley Home in Honolulu, Hawaii, and at Hillcrest Family Services in Dubuque. From 1957 to 1969 he served as a pastor in Methodist parishes at Pisgah, Mondamin, Little Sioux, Victor and Thornton before retiring and moving to Grinnell.

He is survived by his two sons, Lloyd Eugene McClure of Klamath Falls, Ore., and Robert Paul McClure of Des Moines; one daughter, Ruth Marilyn Snell of McFarland, Calif.; nine grandchildren; seven great-grandchildren; three brothers, James of Heber Springs, Ark., Elven of Valricko. Fla., and Earl of Escondido, Calif.; and one sister, Hethlyn Miller of Phoenix, Ariz.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife; one sister, Ferne Johnson; and one brother, John Curtis McClure.