Perry D. McLean

It is with a heavy heart that I share that I lost my friend, my husband, and the love of my life for over 50 years on the morning of Monday, May 19th.

Perry Davis McLean was born on June 9, 1935, in Stillwater, Oklahoma. While in high school he developed a love for amateur radio and got his license at the age of 16. Immediately after finishing high school, he enlisted in the US Army and served 4 years working in communications while he also served part time as a DJ. After leaving the army he went to Texas to work for Central Airlines in communications, and it was there he trained to become a pilot. In 1964 he flew his first single engine commercial flight. Throughout his 25-year career as a pilot, he flew thousands of hours in DC-9s, 727s and L-1011s.

In July 1973, how could he have guessed that during a routine flight from Kansas City to Los Angles, one of the flight attendants onboard would capture his heart and just 4 months later would become his wife, partner, and love of his life for the next 52 years.

In our current age of instantaneous communication, it’s hard to imagine that the soldiers serving in the field would often have to wait weeks to get correspondence, mostly through letters, to and from home. Perry volunteered countless hours serving as a liaison, transmitting radio communications from Vietnam to soldiers and their folks back home. After retirement in 1989, Perry continued to serve as a volunteer with Platte County amateur radio communications and served with the M.A.R.S project through the military.

Perry is preceded in death by his parents, Lawrence and Martha McLean, and his sister, Patty.

Perry is survived by his wife Marlene, and their son Kirk (Susan) and grandchildren, Davis and Meyer McLean, daughter Becky (Dan) Nelson, daughter Rhonda (Toby) Hudson and grandchildren, TJ and Abby, and great grandson Sebastian, and daughter Cynthia (Jeff) McRoberts, and sister, Tamara Sparkman.

Please join us as we gather to share our love and memories of Perry at Terrace Park Funeral Home, 801 NW 108th Street, Kansas City, MO 64155, at 10:00 am on June 9th (Perry’s 90th birthday).