J. Dean McClain

1924 - 2006

J. Dean McClain, 81, a pioneer in radio broadcasting, passed away Monday, April 3, 2006, in Bedford.

Funeral: 12:30 p.m. Friday at Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Chapel. Burial: Bluebonnet Hills Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at Bluebonnet Hills Funeral Home.

Memorials: In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to a charity of choice.

As the genial host of the original "Blues at Sunrise" radio program on KWBC radio in the early 1950s, Dean McClain was well-known to radio listeners in North Texas who knew him as the soft spoken "McNeil at the Wheel." He was active in local broadcasting and advertising for more than 30 years. In the late 1960s, McClain was involved with a Nixon administration Commission on Civil Rights to promote better understanding among people of different races. He founded and operated a printing business in Arlington for 10 years, before retiring in 1988.

McClain served three years during World War II in the U.S. Army Air Forces aboard B-17s and B-29s. He was born in Athens, Texas, son of the late Mattie Mae Dennis and Jule Bennet McClain, and spent his adult life the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex. He graduated from Adamson High School in Dallas in 1941, attended SMU in Dallas and graduated from the School of Broadcasting.

Broadly acknowledged as a people person with a wry sense of humor, McClain enjoyed all types of music and loved animals. He was an ardent sports fan and an avid golfer.

Survivors: His wife of 57 years, the former Janell Barker; sons, Michael McClain and his wife, Joanne, and Ed McClain; grandchildren, Edward Dean McClain and Margaret Janell McClain; sister, Elaverne Doggett; numerous nieces and nephews; and his beloved cat, Mocha.