Edgar (Bud) Galt McLellan
March 5, 1935-Jan. 11, 2022
Atherton, California
Edgar Galt McLellan, Jr. (Bud) died peacefully in his sleep on January 11, 2022 at the age of 86, at his home in Atherton, California.
Bud was born in San Mateo, California in 1935 to Edgar Galt McLellan and Oneita Jantzen McLellan. He spent his childhood in Hillsborough, California and Portland, Oregon. His maternal family had founded and run Jantzen swimwear, and his paternal family had been early and successful real estate investors in Belmont and San Mateo, on the San Francisco Peninsula. Bud was a 1953 graduate of Menlo School in Atherton and graduated with a degree in Social Sciences in 1957 from Stanford University. He was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity at Stanford, where he played junior varsity football.
Bud was a gregarious man, who made friends easily. After graduation from Stanford, he entered the Loop executive training program for Bethlehem Steel in Portland, Oregon where he became a successful salesman. In 1958, he married Jacqueline Plank, and together they raised two children, Reed and Jana. In the 1970’s, Bethlehem asked him to relocate to Cleveland, Ohio to represent the company throughout the Midwest, where the family settled until his retirement in 1984. He succeeded his father on the Board of Directors of the McLellan Estate Company and continued as a member of the board until this year.
After retiring, Bud and Jacqui returned to Portland Oregon. Sadly, Jacqui died in 2001 from cancer. In 2002, he reconnected with Sonia Shepard, a classmate from Stanford whose husband had also died of cancer. Bud had been a groomsman in their wedding. They were married in 2002 and spent the next two decades traveling the world, hosting students in their home, attending Stanford sporting events, and hosting a myriad of gatherings for their family. Bud enjoyed a fine scotch, a nice meal, good conversation and a few hands of dominoes. In retirement, he became a focused stamp collector and an enthusiastic creator of glass sculpture and art. He was a caring, warm, and thoughtful man who will be missed by his family and those who were privileged to know him.
Bud is survived by his wife, Sonia Shepard McLellan, his son Reed McLellan (Chagrin Falls, Ohio) and Jana McLellan (Portland, Oregon). He has three grandchildren and was a wonderful surrogate grandfather to eight Shepard grandchildren. He was also preceded in death by his brother, Carl McLellan and his parents. The family is holding private services later this month.