MAJOR CONTRIBUTION FROM FORMER ZONE RESIDENT
The museum is pleased to announce the receipt of a $25,000 donation from Griffin McClellan, a former resident of the Canal Zone and a long-time member of the Panama Canal Museum and the Panama Canal Society.
“Griff,” as he is known by his friends, left the Canal Zone as a youngster in the 8th grade in Balboa Junior High School when his parents relocated to the United States and has always cherished the time he spent there while growing up. Several years ago, he “reconnected” with former classmates from what would have been his BHS class of 1955 and began attending their class reunions. He soon found out that several of his classmates, Paul Glassburn, Reggie Hayden, Chuck Hummer, Pat (Steiner) Kearns, Joe Wood and Bob Zumbado, were heavily involved in the Panama Canal Museum’s efforts to preserve the history of the American Era in Panama. He was also pleased to learn that his old friend, Lew Taber, CHS ’56, was part of the founding group of the museum.
Griff’s gift to the museum represents his deep appreciation for the hard work and dedication of everyone involved in this important undertaking and for their role in helping to bring back wonderful memories of his youth. In making his gift, Griff wrote: “The folks who conceived of and brought to fruition this wonderful idea to preserve the history of the American Era in the Canal Zone through the museum are owed a great debt of gratitude. I can only imagine the hurdles and frustrations with which they dealt along the way to give us what we have today. It is a great achievement. However, the work continues as the museum grows.
“My thanks to all of you who have worked so hard. Without diminishing any individual’s contribution, I do wish to underline the efforts of so many of my fellow classmates from BHS 1955. As much remains before us, I hope all associated with the place we called home will support the museum through volunteer work or donations of display material or money. As far as the last, dollar amounts are not nearly as important as an increasing member and donor base.”
The McClellan family has a long and interesting history in Panama and the Canal Zone. Griff’s grandfather on his father’s side went to Panama in 1928 to log mahogany and was initially quite successful. The family followed shortly thereafter and Griff’s father, after spending a year away in Lehigh University, returned to Panama to work in the woods for the summer of 1929; however, the depression soon wiped out the logging business and ended his college career. Having some experience in operating a bulldozer in the woods, he worked in Madden Dam during the several years of its construction. He then became a policeman in the Canal Zone and later transferred to the Accounting Department, where he worked until moving to the States in 1951.
On his mother’s side, Griff’s grandfather, Harold Sutherland, who was unemployed in Detroit during the depression, heard about a job opening in the Instrument Repair Shop in the Canal Zone and went to work there in 1931. The family followed shortly thereafter and his mother, Mary Jane, graduated from Balboa High School in 1934. After his mother and father married, they moved to the Atlantic Side and Griff and his sister, Kaye (McClellan) MacDonald, were born in Colon. Through his mother’s side of the family, Griff and his sister are cousins to Owen and Janet Sutherland, with whom he has stayed in touch all these years, and whose grandfather, Gilbert Owen, and great-grandfather Brady Owen, were Roosevelt Medal Recipients. Griff’s mother worked for the Army during WWII, also the Navy for a short time and then did much volunteer work in the Canal Zone. She now lives with her daughter, Kaye, and husband, Jack, in Punta Gorda, Florida.
Griff fondly recalls his time growing up on the Atlantic Side and the lasting friendships he and his parents had with Jack and Millie Sutherland and his cousins, Owen and Janet; Tyke and Edie Cotton and their sons, Larry and Lee (CHS 55); Charley and Margaret Hardy and their son, Chuck (BHS ’55) and Jim and Mary Selby and their son, Jim (BHS ’56).
In 1959, Griff graduated from Harvard and enjoyed a long career in commercial banking until his retirement. He spent 12 years at Morgan Guaranty in New York and subsequently was president of two banks in New Jersey, both of which have long since been merged out of existence. He and his wife Linda, who have been married for 46 years and have four married children and seven grandchildren, moved recently from New Jersey to Vero Beach, Florida. They are avid Duplicate Bridge players and Griff keeps fit with regular exercise and biking, logging at least 4000 miles in each of the last ten years.
Of his family history, Griff says, “Each of us has an interesting story to tell about arrival in the Canal Zone where we so enjoyed growing up and making lasting friendships. As is true of many, our families have examples of folks taking responsibility for their lives and families. Would that there was more of this today.”
