Alex McLean died peacefully at his residence in Two Rivers on Aug. 14, 2019, at the age of 88.
Alex is survived by his children, Gary (Petra) of Winston-Salem, N.C.; Brian (Mary) of Two Rivers; Greg (Cathy) of Green Bay; and Brenda (Lonnie) of Mooresville, N.C.; by 10 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren and by his companion, JoAnne Thom. He is preceded in death by his wife of 49 years, Shirley McLean, who died in 2005; by his daughter-in-law, Cindy McLean, who died in 1998; and by his grandson, Eric McLean; who died in 2012.
Alex was born on Feb. 3, 1931, in Whitewater to Alexander and Lucille Millis McLean. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin – Whitewater in 1955 with a degree in mathematics following a 2-year tour of duty in Korea. He married Shirley Kilmer, a fellow UW – Whitewater student, in 1956. Alex and Shirley began their working lives as teachers at Grant High School in Fox Lake, Ill. Alex left the teaching profession in 1957 to enter the newly developing computer programming field when he joined GM – AC Electronics in Milwaukee. Shirley became a stay-at-home mom after the births of Gary (1957), Brian (1958), Greg (1959) and Brenda (1965). Alex later changed jobs to manage computer operations at Nicolet Paper in DePere in 1969 and again to do the same at Green Bay Packaging in Green Bay in 1971.
Alex was an excellent, life-long golfer, having begun the game at age 14. Alex and Shirley bought Edgewood Golf Course in Oconto in 1972 as a solution to Shirley’s desire to return to work. Shirley and the boys ran the 9-hole golf course for seven years while Alex continued to work at Green Bay Packaging. Alex began pursuing a long-held goal in midlife while at Edgewood and earned his private pilot’s license in 1976, whereupon he bought a 1946 Ercoupe airplane. He flew the plane for several years and had to make an otherwise uneventful forced landing on County Trunk S in Oconto County when the antique plane’s fuel pump malfunctioned.
Alex’s first car was a 1929 Ford Model A 2-door Sedan that he bought in 1950 after graduating high school. Having always loved vintage and antique cars, in 1980 he bought a 1929 Model A 4-door Town Sedan. Having sold that in the late 80s, he bought a 1929 Model A Coupe with a rumble seat in 2010. He would often be seen touring around in his Model A’s on Sunday mornings.
Due to Alex’s desire to retire early and move south, Green Bay Packaging transferred him to its Arkansas Kraft mill in Morrilton, Ariz., in 1985 from where he retired in 1987. After retirement Alex built a wood and fabric Mini-Max kit plane powered by a half of a VW engine built by a machinist in Ohio that used a Model A carburetor.
Alex and Shirley then bought an RV and began touring the United States for five years with many months spent in campgrounds in central Florida. After their nomadic life, Alex and Shirley moved to a large retirement community, The Villages, Fla., in 1995. Alex committed to JoAnne Thom in a church ceremony at The Villages in early 2007. Alex and JoAnne moved to The Woodlands in Greenville, S.C., in 2013 to attain a more manageable lifestyle and to be closer to their respective children.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the Eric McLean Memorial Scholarship Fund. Donations should be directed to UW-Whitewater Foundation Inc. designating the Eric McLean Scholarship. Donations can be mailed to UW-Whitewater Foundation Inc., 800 W. Main St., Alumni Center, Whitewater, WI 53190.
If you would prefer to make a memorial donation online, you can do so at www.uww.edu/foundation/how-to-give/give-now. Eric’s scholarship fund can be selected by clicking on the down arrow in the designation.
The family wishes to extend a special thank you to the staff of HomeCare Health Services & Hospice for the care and compassion shown to Alex and his family.
Expressions of sympathy may be sent to the family by visiting www.kleinandstangel.com.
The Klein & Stangel Funeral Home, Two Rivers, is assisting the McLean family with arrangements.
