Edith F McClurg *
Edith Francis Shockey McClurg, who spent countless hours volunteering in the San Bruno Library — died April 9. She was 89. McClurg was born in 1917 in Hawaii but spent most of her life in San Bruno.
She helped found the San Bruno Friends of the Library. “Her passion was the Friends of the Library book sale,” said library director Terry Jackson. “She loved the library and was, in my view, the perfect type of volunteer. She was a real advocate for libraries in the community, and she thought about the people she was helping.” For 25 years, McClurg would be in the library’s basement every Tuesday morning, sorting, pricing and cleaning books for the book sale. “I used to open the door for her (at the library),” said Marina Middendorf, a Friends volunteer. “She and I became very close friends. She was really a nice nice lady.” Her son Jack remembers seeing her reading past midnight, “polishing up one good novel every night” and that she had a flair for writing. “As we were struggling through essays, out of her hand would fly wonderfully creative essays and stories,” he said. “We always wondered where (her words) came from. We all wished that was one of the things we inherited from her, but we didn’t.” McClurg was to be interred with her library card.
Among her other activities, McClurg was on the Belle Air school PTA, the San Bruno Beautification Committee and the San Bruno Methodist Church Women’s Society. She also worked as an aide for the San Bruno schools and volunteered in the San Bruno Senior Center. On July 15, 2005, the city declared “Edith McClurg Day,” and she was named a Rotary Foundation Paul Harris Fellow for a lifetime of community involvement. Helen Dourov, a Friends volunteer, remembered McClurg at the celebration. “Edith was in her glory,” Dourov said. “She beamed and sparkled. She was full of life and was enjoying every minute of it.”
McClurg was preceded in death by her husband, Bob, in 1999.
She is survived by her sons Jack, David, Tom, and Dennis Durost; daughter Loretta; grandchildren Patrick, Colleen, Sean and Amy; and great-granddaughter Claire.
A celebration of Edith’s life will be held at 2 p.m., May 13, in San Bruno Senior Center, 1555 Crystal Springs Road, San Bruno. People are asked to donate in Edith McClurg’s name to the San Bruno Friends of the Library, c/o San Bruno Library, 701 Angus Ave. W., San Bruno, CA. 94066. Staff writer Christine Morente covers Burlingame, Millbrae, San Bruno and Hillsborough. She can be reached at (650) 348-4333 or at cmorente@sanmateocountytimes.com.