'Lawyer's lawyer' remembered for community service
Thomas E. McClellan ~ 1946-2007
Nearly 20 years ago, when the law firm of Drost, Kivlahan, McMahon and O'Connor searched for an associate to handle their growing number of real estate closings, they turned to a lawyer with Northwest suburban roots, Thomas E. McClellan.
"He really helped me cover all of those closings," says George Drost, senior partner, "and he developed that into a respectable part of our practice."
Now, his colleagues in the legal community and real estate market are mourning his passing. Mr. McClellan passed away Friday. The former 30-year Streamwood resident, was 61.
Mr. McClellan had grown up in Mount Prospect, where his father, Charles, had served as the first executive director of the Lattof YMCA, when it opened in Des Plaines. His mother, Doris, worked for the Daily Herald for 40 years.
While attending Prospect High School, Mr. McClellan played on the basketball team with his good friend, Ernie Bloomquist, which made it to the regional final in 1964. The lifelong friends both would go on to become practicing attorneys in Arlington Heights.
"He was a lawyer's lawyer," Bloomquist says. "Where do lawyers go when they need a lawyer, or need advice? They'd go to Tom, and others like him.
"He'd make impossible transactions come together," Bloomquist adds. "He'd make these difficult situations go seamlessly."
Mr. McClellan met his future wife, Kay, while attending Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, where he earned his undergraduate and master's degree in experimental psychology.
He eventually started working in sales for Campbell's Soup, before attending Chicago-Kent College of Law at night.
"He didn't start out being a real estate lawyer, but he did so much of it that he got really good at it," says his wife, a teacher at Grove Junior High School in Elk Grove Village.
One thing Mr. McClellan always found time for was coaching basketball. From the time his son, Ian, was in third grade, Mr. McClellan coached for the Schaumburg Athletic Association and eventually served on its board.
Another interest of his was serving with the Palatine Lion's Club, which he participated in for many years.
At the law firm, Mr. McClellan supported all its charitable causes, including transforming the office into a haunted house for local children during the Downtown Business Association's trick-or-treat hours on Halloween.
"He dressed up as one of the characters," Drost says. "He was one of the scary lawyers."
Besides his wife and son, Mr. McClellan is survived by his mother, Doris; his sisters, Linda (Craig) Wilson of Lakewood, Colo.; and Gail (Alan) Bartz of Missouri City, Texas; and many nieces and nephews.
Visitation for Mr. McClellan will take place from 4 p.m. until a 7 p.m. funeral service Wednesday at Glueckert Funeral Home, 1520 N. Arlington Heights Road in Arlington Heights.