Gwendolyn Reid McClelland's Obituary
LAKELAND - Gwendolyn Reid McClelland, 93, died March 13, 2016 in Lakeland. Born in Safety Harbor, FL August 8, 1922 to Rev. J.B. and Lollie Moore Reid, she graduated from Lakeland High School and attended Florida Southern College. In 1942 she married Ernest J. McClelland, and they lived in Lakeland from 1945 until they moved to Winter Park in 1962. In 1980, three years after Ernest's death, Gwen moved back to Lakeland. Determined she wasn't going to 'sit around doing nothing,' she took a real estate course and then worked for more than 20 years - into her early 80s - as a real estate agent for Elliott & Co.
A longtime active member of Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church until it closed, Gwen was a member of First United Methodist Church in Lakeland.
At her 90th birthday party, Gwen told the crowd, 'Some people collect stamps, some people collect coins. But I collect friends.' And she had a lot of them.
Gwen is survived by four children, James M. McClelland (Jane) of Indianapolis, Barbara McClelland of Houston, Beverly Strickland (Lee) of Lakeland, and Rusty McClelland (Linda Powell) of Largo, five grandchildren, eight great-grandchildren, two great-great grandchildren, her brother, John W. Reid (Lois) of Lakeland, and numerous nieces and nephews. In addition to her parents and husband, she was predeceased by two sisters, Hazel Trask Keller and Macel Robbinson.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the chapel at First United Methodist Church in Lakeland. Friends and relatives are invited to visit in the church parlor immediately following the service.
The family suggests memorial gifts be made to Cornerstone Hospice Foundation, 2445 Lane Park Road, Tavares, FL, 32778 in appreciation for the care their staff provided Gwen - especially during the last weeks of her life. Memorial contributions may also be made to Parker Street Ministries, which provides a variety of important services from the buildings formerly occupied by Wesley Memorial United Methodist Church.
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