James Leonard McLean

Jim grew up in Palo Alto graduating from Palo Alto High. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1974 from San Francisco State. Jim’s first job was as an animator for the TV show “Hot Dog”. He moved to Los Angeles soon after college and became a professional animator working for HannaBarbera, The Simpsons, Disney, and many others. He also worked on many of the Saturday morning cartoon shows. His specialty was story board and layout artist. After he retired, he moved back to the Bay Area. He created wonderful fine art all through his life up until his passing. He lived with MS for many years, though debilitating, it never interfered with his desire to work on his art projects, and was able to do so at Kala Art Institute with the kind help of the students at Kala. Jim also enjoyed model railroading, movies, art museums, books, music, politics and was a lifelong Giants fan. He was well read and the best conversationalist. He could hold his own on just about any subject and one was hard pressed to keep up. He was kind, witty and always ready with a humorous quip.

Jim is survived by his brother Don of Oroville, CA, and his sister Ann of Kirkland, WA, and many cousins. He is preceded in death by parents Robert and Mary Pat McLean.

A date for his memorial has not been yet set. Contributions in memory of Jim may be made to The Kala Art Institute in Berkeley, CA. www.kala.org