Lawyer was mainstay in Erie County

10/4/2004

SANDUSKY - David B. McClure, 70, a lawyer, former assistant Erie County prosecutor, and past village solicitor for Berlin Heights, died of stroke complications Friday in Firelands Regional Medical Center.

Mr. McClure was a founding member of the board of directors of Erie County's Counseling and Growth Services and helped form the county adult and juvenile probation departments. That work, along with his work as prosecutor, occurred mostly in the 1960s and 1970s, his son John said.

John McClure said it was quite an accomplishment for his father to obtain a law degree considering his heavy family responsibilities. He married during his sophomore year in college and, in the next 13 years, he and his then-wife had 10 children. He worked days as a probation officer and attended night law school classes.

For the next several decades as a general-practice lawyer, Mr. McClure got to know many people and often used his law practice to lend a helping hand.

"He was always willing to help," his son John said. "He never turned anybody away."

Mr. McClure enjoyed spending time with friends at the Huron Eagles Club, where he was a past Aerie president, former deputy state governor, and a trustee for nine years. He was a member of St. Peter's Catholic Church in Huron and recently attended Ss. Peter and Paul Catholic Church in Sandusky.

Surviving are his wife, Zen, whom he married in 1985; sons, David, John, Kevin, Dan, Joseph, and Michael; daughters, Kathleen McClure, Ann McClure, Margaret Ridings, and Mary Mick; stepdaughter, Jesa Llanera; stepsons, Mark and Rick Cazcarro; 33 grandchildren, and a great-grandchild.

The body will be in the Groff Funeral Home, Sandusky, after 5 p.m. today, with a 9:30 a.m. prayer service tomorrow in the funeral home, followed by a 10 a.m. service at Ss. Peter and Paul.