OBITUARY: Jack Keith McClaran

Published 4:00 pm Tuesday, January 7, 2014

April 18, 1926 Dec. 27, 2013

Jack Keith McClaran, 87, a Wallowa County native and rancher, died at his home in Enterprise Dec. 27, 2013.

Jack was born April 18, 1926 in Wallowa, to Joe W. McClaran and Lorene (Richards) McClaran.

Jack was born to a ranching family in the rugged northeast corner of Oregon. The area where he grew up was so remote, he traveled by boat down the Snake River, through Hells Canyon, to attend school. He graduated from Lewiston, Idaho, High School in 1944. He developed his lifelong passion for sports during his high school years. Summers, he returned to the ranch and tended sheep in the Wallowa Mountains and Imnaha canyons.

He joined the Army in the fall of 1944. He was discharged from the European Theater as a Tank commander in 1946.

He graduated from the University of Idaho in 1950. Jack met and married the love of his life, Marjorie Lampman, while attending the University of Idaho.

Jack, Marjorie, his brother Joe and sister-in-law Eve returned to the family ranch, and, in partnership with their parents Joe and Lorene, continued to develop and grow the McClaran Ranch.

Jack loved interactions with his family and community. He found time to serve in a variety of community roles, such as: chair of a federal grand jury, as well as the Imnaha and Enterprise school boards; serving on the Enterprise City Council; leadership in Wallowa County and Oregon Cattlemans Associations; and being a founding member of the Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, Joe W. McClaran Jr.

Jack is survived by his wife of 63 years, Marjorie (Lampman) McClaran; three grown children, Christine McClaran, Katharine McClaran and Scott McClaran and daughter-in-law, Vicki McClaran; grandchildren, Betsy Combes, Sara Combes, Clint Combes, Jill McClaran, Beth McClaran, and Maggie McClaran; and great-grandchild Akayla Combes Moens.

Jacks response when asked what drew him to the Snake River canyons: Theres something in certain kinds of people that seek out remote, challenging, wild areas where they can be their own decision makers.

Services were held Jan. 4, 2013, at Enterprise Baptist Church. Memorial contributions can be made to Wallowa Valley Health Care Foundation or a charity of your choice.