McCLELLAND, Mary M.
Date of death: 17 Apr 2003 Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana
Franklin Daily Journal, April 19, 2003
INDIANAPOLIS
MARY M. McCLELLAND
Mary M. McClelland, 96, died Tuesday, April 17, 2003, at her residence in Indianapolis.
She was born Nov. 29, 1907, on her family’s farm near Ben Davis High School in Marion County. Her parents were Henry Raymond and Helen Ray (Scudder) McClelland. Survivors include a sister, Louise Gaines of Greenwood; and seven nieces, Helen Jean M. Nugent of Franklin, Natalie A. Tobin of Beech Grove, Jeanette Shelton of Crawfordsville, Alice Bell of Colfax, Martha “Marti” A. Daily of Indianapolis, Carol Gaines of Philadelphia and Karen Gaines Batinovich of Hillsborough, Calif.; 11 great-nieces and nephews; and four great-great nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by a sister, Margaret McDaniel; and three brothers, John Isaac, Tom and Harry McClelland.
She graduated from Ben Davis High School, Blaker’s Teachers College and Butler University.
She taught at Ben Davis grade school from 1927 until she became principal in 1943, retiring in 1972. When a new building was open in 1959, the former Ben Davis Grade School was dedicated as the Mary M. McClelland School.
She spent summer months at the Julia Jameson Nutrition Camp for Children in Bridgeport from 1936 to 1957. She served for many years on the camp’s board of directors and was named an honorary director in the late 1980s. An award was established in her name at the camp.
She was appointed to the Wayne Township School Board, serving from 1980 to 1998. She was a member of the Bridgeport Eastern Star, where she served as worthy matron, a charter member of the Omega chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma and past president of the Marion County Tuberculosis Society. She was also a member of the Wayne Township Historical Society, Indiana Historical Society and the Clan Maclellan Society.
She enjoyed artistic activities and local history. She created a number of oil paintings and elegantly decorated eggs. She also provided personal information for historical accounts written about the Wayne Township region.
A service will be conducted at 1 p.m. Monday at Conkle Funeral Home, Speedway Chapel. Friends may call from 2 to 7 p.m. Sunday, with an Eastern Star memorial service at 7 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will be at Crown Hill Cemetery in Indianapolis.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorial donations be made to Bridgeport Eastern Star, Jameson Camp, or Wayne Township Historical Society.
Submitted by Mark Wirey