Harlean Kay McClenny

Harlean Kay (Wilsey) McClenny passed away on January 27th, age 83 years, following a stroke and other health problems complicated by Covid-19. Harlean’s forebears (Wilsey, Tyson, Mallory, Dashiell, Vann, Mack and Isaacs families) were early settlers on the Mendocino coast, and she grew up in Westport and on her family’s ranch at Kibesillah Creek.

She attended Fort Bragg Union High School and Humboldt College, before moving to San Francisco to work in the insurance industry.

There she met and married her husband of 40 years, Myron McClenny (1932-2000), whose successful career as an insurance executive led to periods living in the Bay Area, in Seattle, on the east coast and overseas.

Harlean indulged her curiosity and enthusiasm for travel throughout her adult life, making many trips exploring the US, as well as Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa.

Though predeceased by her husband and parents, Ora (Tyson) Wilsey and Wayne Wilsey, Harlean is survived by her sisters, Rose (Jack Bednar), Veltha (Tom Prine) and Sharon (Dean Pate), by lifelong friends Gay (Killion) Lyly, Norma (Killion) Dunsing and Mildred (Killion) Saunder (deceased), and by her cousin Linda (Tyson) Figueiredo and longtime boyfriend and travel partner Robert “Babe” Ranta. Other surviving family members include her children Lee McClenny (Katherine Latimer) and Kris Kuppe (JB Kuppe), her grandchildren Blake McClenny, Kate Newton (Andy Newton), Maddie Kuppe, Preston Kuppe and Mallory Kuppe, and by great-grandson Kieran Newton.

The family plans a wake and memorial on the Mendocino coast, later in the year, when it is hoped Covid-19 public health restrictions will make it easier for family and friends to travel and gather in a responsible manner to celebrate Harlean’s rich life.