James Royle McClellan, 88, of San Marcos, Texas, passed from this life of old age at his home on Nov. 14, 2021. He was born Nov. 30, 1932, in San Antonio, Texas, to William Royle McClellan and Martha Perrin Judson McClellan.
He attended schools in Dripping Springs and San Marcos. A favorite chapter in his life came when the family settled on an expansive ranch in the Texas Hill Country, past Wimberley, while he was in high school. Deer hunting was a favorite pursuit.
His dream was to be a pilot in the Air Force, but he was disqualified by hay fever. Nevertheless, he served as a radar specialist in the U.S. Army in a divided Germany following World War II.
Mr. McClellan received a bachelors degree in biology in 1958 from Southwest Texas State Teachers College, now Texas State University, after which he took some graduate classes. He also attended law classes at Loyola University in New Orleans.
Mr. McClellan was a career official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, serving for 35 years in New Orleans, La., Jacksonville, Fla., and Cincinnati, Ohio. After retiring from a long tenure as Director of Compliance for the FDA in New Orleans, Mr. McClellan created a second career for 12 years as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry on regulatory matters.
It was in New Orleans that Mr. McClellan met his wife, the former Norma Edward Cameron, at the U.S. Custom House at the foot of Canal Street. They were married on April 30, 1960, and raised two children, Shawn Royle McClellan and Susan Cameron McClellan.
Following the loss of their New Orleans home of 36 years in 2005 to the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, they relocated to San Marcos. After Norma's death in 2007, Mr. McClellan bought a new house and designed a unique xeriscape surrounding it, where his children delighted in visiting him.
Converting to Catholicism shortly after his marriage, Mr. McClellan was fervent in his faith and a longtime activist for the lives of the unborn. His favorite saints were St. John Vianney and St. Thomas More. Over the years he sang in five church choirs, including at Latin Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral in downtown New Orleans, making holy days there a highlight.
Across the decades, Mr. McClellan took up many avocations, which he pursued until he acquired unrivaled expertise. Among these were early hi-fi, which gave him access to a library of the classical music he loved, especially Bach; the intricacies of lightweight bicycling equipment, which he used to explore New Orleans; the moves made by the grandmasters of chess; and above all, the techniques of carpentry, from refinishing furniture to enlarging houses.
Mr. McClellan also looked forward to celebrations, including visiting Galatoire's and Antoine's restaurants; attending Carnival parades; and being a season subscriber to the opera, arranging seats yearly for extended family.
Mr. McClellan is survived by his two children, Shawn McClellan, of Baton Rouge, La., and Susan McClellan, of Austin, Texas; his brother, William Judson McClellan and his wife, Bonnie, of Maxwell, Texas; and friends and relatives with whom he maintained lively correspondence to the very end.
Interment (will be) at San Marcos City Cemetery, where Mr. McClellan will be buried beside his beloved wife Norma, marked by a magnificent granite headstone he designed. (Source: Pennington Funeral Home.
Family History at: www. familysearch.org
use ID GX4M-FS9
James Royle McClellan, 88, of San Marcos, Texas, passed from this life of old age at his home on Nov. 14, 2021. He was born Nov. 30, 1932, in San Antonio, Texas, to William Royle McClellan and Martha Perrin Judson McClellan.
He attended schools in Dripping Springs and San Marcos. A favorite chapter in his life came when the family settled on an expansive ranch in the Texas Hill Country, past Wimberley, while he was in high school. Deer hunting was a favorite pursuit.
His dream was to be a pilot in the Air Force, but he was disqualified by hay fever. Nevertheless, he served as a radar specialist in the U.S. Army in a divided Germany following World War II.
Mr. McClellan received a bachelors degree in biology in 1958 from Southwest Texas State Teachers College, now Texas State University, after which he took some graduate classes. He also attended law classes at Loyola University in New Orleans.
Mr. McClellan was a career official at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, serving for 35 years in New Orleans, La., Jacksonville, Fla., and Cincinnati, Ohio. After retiring from a long tenure as Director of Compliance for the FDA in New Orleans, Mr. McClellan created a second career for 12 years as a consultant to the pharmaceutical industry on regulatory matters.
It was in New Orleans that Mr. McClellan met his wife, the former Norma Edward Cameron, at the U.S. Custom House at the foot of Canal Street. They were married on April 30, 1960, and raised two children, Shawn Royle McClellan and Susan Cameron McClellan.
Following the loss of their New Orleans home of 36 years in 2005 to the floodwaters of Hurricane Katrina, they relocated to San Marcos. After Norma's death in 2007, Mr. McClellan bought a new house and designed a unique xeriscape surrounding it, where his children delighted in visiting him.
Converting to Catholicism shortly after his marriage, Mr. McClellan was fervent in his faith and a longtime activist for the lives of the unborn. His favorite saints were St. John Vianney and St. Thomas More. Over the years he sang in five church choirs, including at Latin Masses at St. Patrick's Cathedral in downtown New Orleans, making holy days there a highlight.
Across the decades, Mr. McClellan took up many avocations, which he pursued until he acquired unrivaled expertise. Among these were early hi-fi, which gave him access to a library of the classical music he loved, especially Bach; the intricacies of lightweight bicycling equipment, which he used to explore New Orleans; the moves made by the grandmasters of chess; and above all, the techniques of carpentry, from refinishing furniture to enlarging houses.
Mr. McClellan also looked forward to celebrations, including visiting Galatoire's and Antoine's restaurants; attending Carnival parades; and being a season subscriber to the opera, arranging seats yearly for extended family.
Mr. McClellan is survived by his two children, Shawn McClellan, of Baton Rouge, La., and Susan McClellan, of Austin, Texas; his brother, William Judson McClellan and his wife, Bonnie, of Maxwell, Texas; and friends and relatives with whom he maintained lively correspondence to the very end.
Interment (will be) at San Marcos City Cemetery, where Mr. McClellan will be buried beside his beloved wife Norma, marked by a magnificent granite headstone he designed. (Source: Pennington Funeral Home.
Family History at: www. familysearch.org
use ID GX4M-FS9
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