Obituary of Hazeldean McClure

Hazeldean "Deanie" McClure passed away on Wednesday, June 17, 2015. She was 87 years old and a resident of Fairfax, Virginia. Deanie died at Fair Oaks Hospital as a result of congestive heart failure. Deanie was born on November 23, 1927 in Corbin, Kentucky. Her parents were Robert Hibbard, who worked for the Louisville and Nashville (L&N) Railroad, and Ara Trosper, a homemaker. She was the youngest of twelve children, six boys and six girls. Deanie enjoyed growing up on a small family farm and would visit her older siblings throughout the Midwest and East Coast in the summer months. Her father would place her on a Greyhound bus with stern directions to the driver to watch out for his little girl. She recalled in one story she wrote down where the Greyhound Bus took her to visit a brother and sister during World War II. "I spent some time in Washington, DC visiting my brother, Bill, and traveled on to Springfield, Massachusetts to see my sister, Totalee (Cora Lee). On D Day, June 6th, 1944, we listened to the radio all day as reporters gave accounts of the U.S. paratroopers landing in France. Our brother, Dick, was a paratrooper with the 101st Airborne Division. We knew he was one of the thousands of soldiers who landed in France that day! I prayed that God would take care of him. My prayers were answered. Dick was wounded but with the help from a German doctor he survived and returned home several months later." In her senior year of high school, Deanie moved to Weatherford, Texas with her family. After high school she attended Weatherford Junior College, graduating in 1948. Deanie received a scholarship to complete her college education, earning a B.A. at Howard Payne College in 1950 with a major in Religion and a minor in English. Deanie went on to attend Southwestern Theological Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas for a year and after feeling a call to be a nurse attended Texas Wesylan College, receiving a B.S. degree and R.N. license in 1954. Deanie had always wanted from the age of fourteen to be a missionary nurse and in 1956 was appointed by the Southern Baptist Foreign Mission Board to a position in Nigeria. She sailed from New York City on a freighter to Monrovia, Liberia and on to Lagos, Nigeria. There were no docks at the time, the ships anchored away from shore and she climbed down ropes to a small boat to go ashore. Deanie spent a year and a half in Nigeria supporting pediatric programs, teaching at a midwifery school, and nursing in a Leprosy clinic. On one occasion in the bush country, at the Baptist Welfare Center in Ire, she had a difficult maternity case. She had to take the patient in a Chevrolet station wagon, which had been converted into an ambulance, to the Baptist Hospital in Ogbomosho, about 35 miles away. Deanie and a midwifery student started driving the patient to the hospital. On the way the student, who was sitting by the patient to observe her, suddenly said, "I think it's coming". Deanie slammed on the brakes and said, "You think what is coming?" She then pulled over to the side of the road and they delivered the baby. Deanie returned to Texas in 1958 and settled in Dallas working as the pediatric charge nurse at Baylor Medical Center. During those years she attended Gaston Avenue Baptist Church where she met her husband, Robert "Bob" McClure. Deanie and Bob were married on May 12, 1962. Deanie raised three children and lived with her family in Austin, Texas, and Charleston, West Virginia, moving to Fairfax, Virginia in 1973. She decided to return to nursing in 1977 enrolling in a refresher course at the Washington Hospital Center and eventually earning another B.S. degree in Nursing from George Mason University in 1979. Deanie worked as a visiting nurse after graduating. She spent the next year working for the Alexandria Public Health Department and another eleven years working for the Fairfax County Health Department in Maternal Child Health. During her years in Fairfax, she enjoyed being a member of Ox Hill Baptist Church and was a member for over 40 years. In her retirement years, Deanie loved to attend family events and gatherings and was an ever present figure in her nine grandchildren's lives. Deanie was the last remaining sibling of her eleven brothers and sisters and is survived by her husband of 53 years, Bob McClure of Fairfax, VA; her son and daughter-in-law, Alan and Lynn McClure of South Riding, Virginia; her daughter and son-in-law, Lori and Barry Frise of Ashburn, Virginia; and son and daughter-in-law, Dennis and Bhabes McClure of South Riding, Virginia. Deanie is survived by nine grandchildren Lauren McClure, Morgan Hall, Ashley Hall, Allison McClure, Sierra McClure, Hannah McClure, Nick McClure, T.J. McClure, and Miriam McClure. One of Deanie's favorite scripture verses was Isaiah 40:31 which exemplified her approach to her life and family: but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. (Isaiah 40:31) A family visitation will be held at 11:00 a.m. on June 23, 2015 at Ox Hill Baptist Church in Chantilly, Virginia. A memorial service will follow the visitation at Ox Hill Baptist beginning at 12 noon the same day. The internment will be at Fairfax Memorial Park immediately after the memorial service. The family requests donations be made to Western Fairfax Christian Ministries (WFCM), http://www.wfcmva.org/.