James Edward McClary, Jr.

James Edward McClary, Jr. departed this life on August 14, 2022. Jim was born on December 24, 1929, in Newport News. From a shipbuilding family, he spent his formative years between Hampton, VA and Wilmington, NC, graduating from Hampton High School in 1947. Virginia Polytechnic Institute (Virginia Tech) and the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps followed, with a degree in Forestry and Wildlife Conservation in 1952. Heading off to the Korean War, Jim married his high school sweetheart, Anne Crockett. In 1954, he returned home, continued to serve in the Army Reserve, and worked for the U.S. Forestry Service and later West Virginia Pulp and Paper Company (WestVaCo), raising 6 children in central Virginia. Jim retired from the Army Reserves as a Lt. Colonel in 1989 and from WestVaCo in 1994. Following the death of Anne in 2014, he moved from Appomattox, Virginia to The Chesapeake Retirement Community in Newport News. There he made many new friends, reconnected with past friends, and enjoyed a full life. Jim was a gentleman, a loving son, husband, and father, and a loyal friend, sharing his dry humor and great hugs. He is greatly missed by his family and so many whose lives he touched. In Jim’s memory, perform a random act of kindness.

Private interment in the Peninsula Memorial Park in Newport News is planned.