Donald Glen McClellan was born in the residence of Elijah Shanklin and Beedie Frances (Archer) McClellan in Hill Community, Coleman County, Texas on July 31, 1918. Like his siblings, he grew up in Hill Community, Coleman County, Texas attending the Hill Community School between the years of 1924-32 and Bethel Baptist Church. He became a Christian and joined the Bethel Baptist Church on August 6, 1928. He attended Mozelle High School from 1932 to 1936, graduating in 1936, in the second class to graduate from Mozelle High School.
On September 23, 1939 at the age of 21, Donald Glen McClellan enlisted in the United States Air Corps and served as a gunner and engineer on an American bomber. He spent time in training at Hondo, Texas, Randolph Field in San Antonio. He was at Davis Mountain Field, Tuscon, Arizona in September, 1943 through November, 1943. Donald Glen McClellan completed training in January, 1944 and was sent to Europe with the crew of an unidentified plane “#254”, in which he flew 50 missions over enemy-held territory in Europe. He remained in he U.S. Air Corps until the end of World War II, in 1945. He had had earned the rank of T/Sgt. He trained as a pilot when a civilian again, and purchased a Cessna 140 airplane and traveled via plane from Hobbs, New Mexico to Coleman County, Texas to visit his brothers.
Donald Glen McClellan worked in the oil fields near Hobbs, New Mexico before 1951. While living in Hobbs, New Mexico, Donald Glen McClellan worked for the Orbit Valve Company. Later, he purchased and operated the S&M Oil Field Equipment Repair Co. During this same time period, Ella Colleen Quigley also lived in Hobbs, New Mexico, having graduated from Hobbs High School and worked as a legal secretary for a lawyer named Don Hollon. The wedding of Donald Glen McClellan and Ella Colleen Quigley occurred on Monday evening, February 12, 1951 in the First Baptist Church of Hobbs, New Mexico. Two of Don’s brothers attended the wedding: Mr. and Mrs. Pat Neff McClellan of Goldsmith, Texas and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Beal McClellan of Odessa, Texas.
Farming and ranching were Donald Glen McClellan’s main activities. He raised sheep, goats, cattle, wheat, oats, and hay crops. He held several jobs at various times to supplement his farm income. Donna Gay (McClellan) Lewis reported: “In addition to his farming knowledge and mechanical skills, Donald Glen McClellan was and experienced welder.” After 1964 Donald Glen McClellan owned an auto repair business in Brownwood, Texas. During this same time period, Don was employed at General Dynamics in Ft. Worth, Texas and at Weekly/Watson Hardware Company in Brownwood, Texas for a short time each. During this same time period(1967-1993), Ella Colleen (Quigley) McClellan helped develop and start the Superior Cable Credit Union in Brownwood, Texas. She was manager of the Superior Cable Credit Union after 1967, having already served as a legal secretary and as a Human Resources specialist. In 1993, Ella Colleen (Quigley) retired from from the Superior Cable Credit Union in Brownwood, Texas, at age 62.
Notes from Donna Gay (McClellan) Lewis, daughter of Donald Glen and Ella Colleen (Quigley) McClellan report that Donald Glen McClellan “enjoyed hunting and fishing in the Brownwood, Texas area, but he occasionally went on elk hunting trips to Colorado and deep sea fishing trips to the Gulf of Mexico. He enjoyed watching and betting on horse races. For a short time he co-owned two horses. Sometimes he took his family on vacations to Ruidoso, New Mexico where they enjoyed the horse races and enjoyed trout fishing in the mountain streams.”
Donald Glen McClellan died on Monday, July 12, 1999 and was buried in Eastlawn Memorial Park in Early, Texas (a suburb of Brownwood, Texas) on Thursday, July 15, 1999. Ella Colleen (Quigley) McClellan died Wednesday, October 10, 2001 and was buried in Eastlawn Memorial Park, Early, Texas (a suburb of Brownwood, Texas) on Saturday, October 13, 2001.
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