Kelly Dean McClary

1962 - 2026

Funeral services for Kelly McClary, 64, of Portales, will be held at 10:00 AM, Sat., April 4, 2026, in the Wheeler Mortuary Chapel with Jimmy Rowlett and Steve Fleischman officiating.
Burial will follow in the Portales Cemetery with Jose Hernandez, Humberto Hernandez, Tony Terrazas, Damian Lozano, Charles Morris and James Kendrick serving as pallbearers. The family will receive guests at Wheeler Mortuary on Friday evening, April 3, 2026 from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM.
Kelly Dean McClary was born Jan. 12, 1962, in Amarillo, TX to the home of Lynell Ruth (Skelton) and David Stanton McClary and passed from this life on the afternoon of Mar. 29, 2026, at his home in Portales. Kelly's family moved to Portales when he a young boy. At the age of 16, he and his friend Woody left school to work in Flagstaff, AZ with Woody's Uncle Dave in his concrete business. He soon returned to Portales, and on Feb. 28, 1981, at the First Baptist Church, he was married to Sheryl Denise Heflin.
For a very brief time he worked at the Swift Processing Plant in Dumas, TX before coming back to Portales. He first worked as a roofer, but due to the unpredictability of roofing jobs, he soon left and went to work at for his father-in-law at Heflin Lumber Co. Beginning in 1987, he and his father-in-law contracted with the US Postal Service to build handicap ramps for Post Offices throughout the surrounding states. In 1997, he began as a sub-contractor at the ABENGOA ethanol plant. In 2007,he and his father-in-law along with his brother Brien built the lagoon for the DFA plant west of Portales.
He and his wife Purchased Pat's Drive-In in 2000 and later sold it to their daughter. For a number of years, Kelly, along with his father-in-law, Don Heflin and Tommy Heflin were in partnership in Portales Concrete. He later purchased Tommy's interest, and in October of 2025, he sold the business. In 2018, he and his wife opened A Little Old A Little New event venue on Highway 70, and more recently opened a second venue on Main St.
Kelly loved to be busy and just enjoyed his work. In addition to his various business interests and his family, he loved classic cars. The favorite one of his collection was a 1969 Roadrunner.
Kelly is survived by Sheryl, his wife of 45 years of their home; two daughters and a son-in-law, Ashley and James Kendrick and Kassey McClary of Portales; five grandchildren, Trendon, Kelsey and Brooke Kendrick and Davian and Brielle Lucero; his mother, Lynell McClary of
Portales; a brother and sister-in-law, Brien and Stephanie McClary of Portales; a sister and brother-in-law, Lynlea and Steve Fleischman of Morgantown, IN, step siblings John and Ladonna Schwab and John and Lori Danforth, his mother-in-law, Pauline Heflin and two sisters-in-law, Paula Heflin and Patti Heflin and her companion Alfonso Gomez all of Portales. He was preceded in death by his father in 2003, and his father-in-law, Don Heflin in 2023 as well as by his maternal grandparents, Ruth and P. W. Skelton, his paternal grandmother, Willie McClary and an uncle, Jim Balfour and a cousin, Scott Balfour.
Arrangements are under the direction of Wheeler Mortuary of Portales. 575-356-4455, wheelermortuary.net