In Memoriam: 1940s

Notices sorted by graduation date

Margaret Kleppinger McLean (Nurs ’45 CM) of Charlottesville died Dec. 3, 2024, at the age of 102. Born in the mountains near Allentown, Pennsylvania, she attended the nursing school at UVA, where she met her husband, Walter Copley McLean (Med ’46 CM). Together, they started the Walter Copley and Margaret Kleppinger McLean Scholarship Fund for aspiring doctors and nurses who focus on patient-centered care. In the 1950s, she was one of the Charlottesville “emergency mothers” of the Parents’ Committee for Emergency Schooling who coordinated classes in private basements while public schools were closed over desegregation orders; the committee did not base their enrollment on race. She had a love of dressing up for holidays, cooking and baking, gardening and enjoying the outdoors. Many neighbors in the area surrounding Albemarle remember her for her delivered gifts of homemade stew and rolls. She is predeceased by her husband, as well as her children Patricia and Stephen. Survivors include her children Walter Copley McLean Jr. (Med ’75 CM), Mark Andrew McLean (Educ ’76 CM), Peter Kleppinger McLean (Col ’78 CM), Martha Elizabeth McLean (Educ ’84, Nurs ’88 CM) and Christopher Laubach McLean (Col ’86 CM); daughters-in-law Caroline Wilson McLean (Col class of ’76, Educ class of ’79) and Ann Hunter McLean (Grad class of ’91, class of ’98); 19 grandchildren, including William Copley McLean (Col class of ’07), Catharine Merriwether McLean (Educ ’09, ’10 CM), Elizabeth McLean (Col ’12 CM), Margaret Ann McLean (Col ’10, Educ ‘10), Olivia McLean (Col ’17 CM), Mary Blair McLean (Col class of ’24), Elsa Copley Pala McLean (Col ’18 CM), Reid Christopher McLean (Educ class of ’23) and Alfred Joseph Whitt Shilling (Col class of ’28); and 16 great-grandchildren.