No history of Burlington, Vermont would be complete without the names of two prominent families—Howe and McClure—recorded in the annals of the city. The link between the two families is Lois Howe McClure, one of three daughters born to Marjorie (Roberts) and David Howe in the second half of the twentieth century. Later Lois married the late J. Warren McClure with whom she raised five children including a nine year-old daughter they lost to cancer.

The two families took leading roles in the community through their service to many organizations and charities including the philanthropic endeavors of the McClures in the late 1900s and 2000s. McClure, known affectionately as “Mac,” died in 2004 but Lois continues their work to this day.

Photos courtesy of the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum.

The Howe and McClure names also are synonymous with the growth of Burlington and its environs, and in particular their connection with the city’s leading daily newspaper, The Burlington Free Press, founded in 1827.

Recently, over a cup of tea (“just a little sugar, please”), Lois spoke of her memories growing up in Burlington and her love of the Vermont community in which she raised her own family which now numbers five grandchildren and seven great grandchildren.

New England People

Lois’ roots are deep in New England. Her mother came from New Hampshire to Burlington when she married Lois’ father, David Howe, whose family originally came from Massachusetts. She remembers fondly the hillside Burlington home on South Williams Street where she was brought up. She did leave Vermont briefly to attend Vassar College where she majored in Economics and then again when Mac moved the family to Rochester, New York where she completed her undergraduate degree at Nazareth College.

Her life and times in the “Queen City” mirror many of the changes that occurred in Burlington and Vermont around the mid-twentieth century. About the country’s Depression: “The banks in Burlington declared a bank holiday so those institutions could organize their operations and serve their customers.” Mac’s story of that same period in his home state of Ohio was different, Lois explained. “His mother would put out food for the homeless traveling through their town. It always was gone when she later checked.”

But before Mac came to Burlington, Lois’ paternal grandfather and later her father, were business managers of The Burlington Free Press and her mother wrote book reviews for the newspaper.

The strong three-generational connection the Howe and McClure families had with Mary Fletcher Hospital is legion. Both Lois’ father and grandfather and she herself served on the hospital’s board. Today the name of McClure is prominent on a wing of the hospital, now known as Fletcher Allen Hospital.

“I was on the board of Mary Fletcher Hospital when it merged with Bishop DeGoesbriand Hospital,” Lois recalled. “This was under the leadership of the late Vermont Roman Catholic Bishop Robert Francis Joyce.” She remembers him as one of the kindest and most forward-thinking religious leaders of his time. “Everyone knew and loved him.” He passed away in 1990.

Five partners

Mac, who joined the Free Press in 1952, was one of five partners who took ownership of the daily. The other four were Urban Bergeron, Gordon Mills, Roland Wilbur and Frank Heinrich. Heinrich was the circulation manager and worked with the youngsters who delivered the paper around the city. Mac was the marketing director. The story goes when one entered his office every area radio and television station was turned on so he could keep track of his competition—all at one time!

When the five partners sold the paper to Gannett Company, Inc. in 1971, editor Gordon Mills left and purchased the Middlebury weekly, The Addison Independent. He was both editor and publisher of the paper until he sold it in 1984. At the same time, Mac opted to continue working with Gannett as a vice president of marketing and moved the family to its (Gannett’s) corporate headquarters in Rochester, New York. After Mac retired in 1975, the McClures returned to Burlington and together Lois and Mac resumed work and support of many of the Burlington organizations and charities.

Later the McClures moved to Wake Robin, a retirement community in Shelburne, Vermont. Other volunteer activities in which the McClures continued to take an active interest were the Nature Conservancy, the Audubon Society and the Howard Mental Health Center. Together they helped form a committee which was instrumental in starting the Respite House of Williston-a facility for ill persons in the last six months of their life (See the Jan./Feb. Issue of Livin’ Magazine 2009).

Lois spoke about the opportunities open to the girls who come to the Lund Home on Shelburne Road to have their babies and learn to care for them in preparation for supporting their children and returning to their communities. “It’s a wonderful place and well-situated. They are on the bus line and can get around the city. They now have their babies at the hospital although they used to have them right there at the Home.”

Mercy Connection

Another interest of Lois’ is the “Mercy Connection”—an organization that helps to match women getting out of prison with a mentor who assists them in readjusting to life outside prison walls. She also praised Burlington’s COTS (Committee on Temporary Shelter) Program and the work of its first executive director, Sister Bonvouloir, RSM (Religious Sisters of Mercy).

She spoke of Sister Janet Ryan and Sister Elizabeth Candon, both of whom were presidents of Trinity College, founded by the Sisters of Mercy, which now is closed. “It was sad that Trinity did not survive because it filled a gap in the education system of Vermont.” (Many older persons, well beyond the traditional age of most college students, were accepted and encouraged to attend Trinity and complete their undergraduate degree).

The American Cancer Society Hope Lodge Lois McClure-Bee Tabakin Building, which opened last January 2008 to accommodate cancer patients seeking outpatient treatment at nearby Fletcher Allen Hospital was supported by Lois. Ms. Bee Tabakin, who has fundraised for the Cancer Society for many years, asked Lois to become a major donor when plans were made to build the Lodge. With no hesitation Lois said “yes.”

The two women had met years before when they owned adjacent summer cottages at Cedar Beach in Charlotte. Their similar experiences in losing family members to cancer brought them even closer together and they have remained lifelong friends.

The “Lois McClure”

First time visitors to the Lake Champlain Maritime Museum in Vergennes may wonder why the schooner moored lakeside is named the “Lois McClure.” Built at the Lake Champlain Ferry Dock at King Street in Burlington Boat Works under the auspices of the Maritime Museum and launched in 2004, it’s a replica of an 1862 class Sailing Canal Boat. It bears the name “Lois McClure” on its stern, reflecting Lois’ abiding interest and support of the history and preservation of Lake Champlain through the museum.

She recalled the time when large oil tanks stood on the Burlington lakeshore and obstructed the lake view and what a relief it was when the tanks were removed and the lake opened up. She wholeheartedly supports the new Echo Lake Aquarium and Science Center on the Burlington waterfront.

Lois believes in getting plenty of exercise and she enjoys walking on the trails of the Wake Robin property. She takes part in the Charlotte Senior Center activities and regularly attends Shelburne’s Trinity Church. She also enjoys the theatre. “I like that downstairs theatre next to the Flynn.”

Lois McClure truly is a Renaissance woman. The Howe family and her husband Mac McClure would be proud of her continued philanthropic work in the Vermont community.

Margery Sharp is a freelance writer. She lives in Hinesburg.