Published Monday August 24, 2009
By Sue Story Truax
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Neligh doctor kept global outlook
Dr. Frank McClanahan spent three decades as a general practitioner in Neligh, Neb., but he had a global perspective.
This son of a Presbyterian medical missionary was born in Cairo. From then through high school, McClanahan spent most of his childhood in Egypt, his family said.
“Perhaps it was because of his background, but he was never judgmental and always interested in other peoples and cultures,” said daughter Alexandra McClanahan Shively of Orchard, Neb., and Anchorage, Alaska.
Frank Chalmers McClanahan Jr. died Wednesday at his Brighton Gardens home in Greensboro, N.C., she said. He was 91 and died from heart failure and complications of an infection, she said.
After college, he served in the Army during World War II. After the war, he graduated from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. McClanahan then re-enlisted and served his medical internship at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone.
McClanahan moved his young family to Madison, Neb., where he worked as a general practitioner with another doctor. The family moved to Neligh in 1954, where he practiced alone.
Among his pastimes were restoring older cars and following auto racing.
In 2000, McClanahan and his wife moved to Omaha. In 2002, they moved to Greensboro.
Other survivors include son Frank Chalmers McClanahan III of Greensboro; daughters Barbara Jeanne Johnston of Baldwin City, Kan., and Victoria McClanahan of Durham, N.C.; five grandchildren; and brother Grant Victor McClanahan of Washington, D.C.
Preceding McClanahan in death were his wife of 60 years, Phyllis Jeanne Phillips McClanahan; daughter Antoinette Mahala McClanahan; and grandson Quentin Douglass Walker.
A memorial service will be later in Neligh.
Contact the writer:
444-1165, sue.truax@owh.com
Norfolk Daily News
Tuesday, August 25, 2009Dr. Frank McClanahan
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
NELIGH - A memorial service will be at a later date here for Dr. Frank McClanahan, who practiced medicine in Neligh for three decades.
Age 91, he died Wednesday, Aug. 19, 2009, in Greensboro, N.C.
He was born Dec. 25, 1917, in Cairo, Egypt, the son of Helen Jane Smith McClanahan and Frank Chalmers McClanahan. His father was a Presbyterian medical missionary, and he spent much of his youth in Egypt.
He grew up speaking both Arabic and English. He went to high school in Egypt, except for one year in the United States where he met Phyllis Jeanne Phillips, who in 1943 would become his wife. The couple was together until her death on May 2, 2004.
He graduated from Muskingum College in New Concord, Ohio. After college he served in the U.S. Army for the duration of World War II and attained the rank of lieutenant.
After the war, he graduated from the University of Nebraska School of Medicine. He and his wife had two children while he was a medical student, and money was tight. To obtain additional funds to support his family, he each month sold his rare type of blood for $25.
After graduating from medical school Dr. McClanahan re-enlisted in the Army and served his medical internship at Gorgas Hospital in the Panama Canal Zone in 1951.
Upon their return to the United States, the couple moved to Madison, where Dr. McClanahan worked as a general practitioner in partnership with another doctor. The family moved to Neligh in 1954, where he became sole practitioner, and he often assisted Dr. Dwaine Peetz in surgeries.
Among his pastimes were restoring older cars and following auto racing, especially the Indianapolis 500.
He once bought a 1937 Buick hearse but later sold it feeling that it was not appropriate for a physician to own such a vehicle.
After Dr. McClanahan retired from his medical practice in 1984, the couple focused their attention on their farm, planting thousands of trees and selling Christmas trees.
During the couple's years in Neligh they were active in St. Peter's Episcopal Church. They moved to Omaha in 2000 and to Greensboro in 2002.
At the time of his death, he lived at Brighton Gardens, an assisted living facility.
Survivors include son Frank Chalmers McClanahan III and daughter-in-law BJ Pearce of Greensboro; daughters Barbara Jeanne Johnston (married to Ron Johnston) of Baldwin City, Kan., Victoria McClanahan of Durham, N.C., and Alexandra McClanahan Shively (married to John T. Shively) of Anchorage, Alaska, and Orchard; brother Grant Victor McClanahan and sister-in-law Pauli of Washington, D.C.; sisters-in-law Betty Godfrey of Shreveport, La., and Betty Phillips of Huntington Beach, Calif.
Grandchildren and great-grandchildren also survive.
Besides his wife Jeanne and daughter Antoinette, he was preceded in death by a grandson.
Interment of cremains will be in Laurel Hill Cemetery at Neligh. Local arrangements are by Beyer Funeral Home. Memorials may go to Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro.