Keith McClellan, a resident of Oak Park, Michigan, died on November 25th, 2022 at the age of 85. Funeral services arranged by The Dorfman Chapel.

Location of Service:

The Dorfman Chapel- main chapel (map to our Chapel)

Date of Service:

Monday November 28th, 2022

Time of Service:

2:00PM  

Officiant:

Rabbi Matthew Zerwekh  

Shiva Information:

The family will be sitting on Monday and Tuesday, from 6:00PM until 9:00PM at Temple Emanu-EL, 14450 W. 10 Mile Rd. Oak Park MI 48237 Phone: (248) 967-4020.

Religious services will be held Monday and Tuesday evenings at 7:00PM.  
See our shiva mapping options

Charitable contributions:

Oak Park Youth Assistance
14000 Oak Park Blvd.
Oak Park, MI 48237
Phone: (248) 336-7679

or
A charity of one's choice  

Family Members:

Keith McClellan was born in Iowa City, Iowa December 17, 1936. His great grandparents moved to Iowa from Indiana in 1852. Keith graduated from Tipton High School in 1955, where he was an Honor Society student, Captain of the football team, thespian and a State Science Fair winner. In January 1959, he graduated from the State College of Iowa, now the University of Northern Iowa. He taught history at Morton High School and was head union negotiator for Hammond, Indiana teachers 1959-64; was a John Hay Fellow at Williams College; and a graduate student on scholarship at University of Chicago 1959-67. Keith was on the staff of the Center for Urban Studies; Assistant Director of the Metropolitan Housing and Planning Council of Chicago; an area director at Abt Associates, a think tank; on the executive staff of the United Way in Cleveland; Director of the United Labor Agency’s Leo Perlis Center; and a Presidential appointee to the IRG for NIAAA 1976-81.

As a community organizer, he helped create the Greater Roseland Organization (GRO); Employee Assistance Society of North America (EASNA) and the Detroit Track and Field Old Timers. He edited a scholarly journal, Employee Assistance Quarterly , for twenty years; wrote a monthly column in the U.S. Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse for five years; wrote several dozen articles on sport history and authored five books including The Sunday Game sold at the NFL Hall of Fame. He was politically active from 1960, the first year he could vote, when he worked for Jack Kennedy. He played significant roles in the election of Gary, IN Mayor Richard Hatcher and the presidential primary of Robert Kennedy. He ran for city council in Chicago 1960-61. He helped organize the 50th Anniversary of Alcoholics Anonymous in 1986, and helped make Dr. Bob’s house a national historic monument.

He was married to Barbara Miller 1958-1989 and Marian Meisner 1991-2022.

Keith has three children; Michael Keith (Roxanna) McClellan, Bethany Alice (Kevin Brennan) McClellan, and TyKeith (Kristie) McClellan; two step-children; Andy Edward (Sara) Meisner, and Michelle Ann (Jeffrey Welch) McIver; and eight grandchildren; Katie Mashburn, Rowan and Cameron McClellan, Jessie and Evander McIver, Asher, Levi and Jonah Meisner; and two great-grandchildren Walker and Essie Mashburn. They are the joys of his life and his favorite people.

Gratefully, Keith was the beneficiary of a kidney transplant that extended his life by three decades. His beloved wife, Marian, has been his loving partner and the twinkle in his eye for more than thirty years. She has been head-over-heels in love with him since the day she met him, and is a retired elementary school teacher, and,humbly, serves as mayor of Oak Park, Michigan for twelve years.  

Email Condolences:

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View the broadcast of the service:

A video recording of the service is available. View the service.

Yahrzeit Schedule:

A 10 year Yahrzeit calendar is available.
Also, you can sign-up for an annual email reminder of the yahrzeit.