Walter Moore McClelland

1922 - 2018

Walter Moore McClelland

Ojai, CA

Walter Moore McClelland, July 13, 1922 - January 6, 2018

Walter Moore "Mac" McClelland, of Ojai, CA passed away on Saturday, January 6, at the age of 95. He was under hospice care and died of natural causes in the company of his loving daughter, Katherine McClelland.

Walter was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma on July 13, 1922. His father, James Bruce McClelland III, a lawyer, was a founding partner in a law firm there. His mother, Eugenia McClelland, nee Moore, was a homemaker. He attended the Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia and the University of Virginia, as was the tradition in his family. At Virginia, he joined the Naval ROTC, and after graduation, he served as a junior officer aboard a destroyer in the

north Pacific during the final stages of the Second World War. He subsequently attended Harvard law school, receiving a law degree and a master's degree in American History. He and Frances Louise "Franna" McClelland, nee Shaffer, were married on June 1, 1947.

Walter then joined the US Foreign Service in 1950, where he served as an officer until his retirement in 1984. During his 34-year Foreign Service career, he served periodically at the Department of State in Washington DC and overseas in Liverpool and London, UK; Dhahran, Saudi Arabia; Beirut, Lebanon; and Baghdad, Iraq. He served as

Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy in Kuwait and was the US Consul General in Alexandria, Egypt during the historic visit of Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin to Alexandria in 1979, as part of the peace process surrounding the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty of 1979. He returned to the US from Egypt in 1981, rounding out his career as the Executive Secretary of the Board of the Foreign Service in Washington DC, where he and Franna had owned a home since 1956, in order to support her career in early childhood education.

After his retirement, Walter dedicated much of his time to community service and to religious scholarship and teaching through his involvement in the Episcopal Church including programs in leadership and lay ministry. His commitment to community service was evident through his extensive involvement in a variety of organizations both at home and overseas. He served his congregation and the larger community through All Saints' Episcopal Church in Chevy Chase MD and through St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Ojai CA where he and Franna moved in 2003 to spend time with their youngest grandchildren. In his later years, he studied the works of John Shelby Spong, a religious thinker who emphasizes compassion and inclusiveness as well as openness to diversity of religious beliefs.

He is survived by his wife, Franna, daughter Katherine, and sons Jay McClelland, William Laziza, and Bruce McClelland, as well as 8 nieces and nephews, 7 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his other daughter, Mary Elizabeth McClelland.

A memorial service will be held to celebrate the memory of Walter McClelland at St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 409 Topa Topa Drive, Ojai, CA 93023, Ojai, California at the 10:00 am service on Sunday, February 18, 2018.The service will be followed by a reception in the Fellowship Hall adjacent to the Church building. All are invited to

attend. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations in Walter's name can be sent to St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, 409 Topa Topa Drive, Ojai, CA 93023, All Saint's Church, 3 Chevy Chase Circle, Chevy Chase, MD 20815 or to The Frances and Walter McClelland Scholarship Fund at Hampshire College, 893 West Street, Amherst, MA 01002.

Arrangements were under the care of the JOSEPH P. REARDON FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICE, 757 East Main Street, Ventura.