In her own words:
"I was the oldest of 3 girls, and kind of a tomboy, going with my dad, the farmer. Dad had a farm on which he built his own house before he was married at 41 years of age. Mom was 32, and they had gone together for ten years. They waited to marry because mom had to care for her ailing mother.
"We had a very normal, happy childhood. Living in the country we had butter and cream, yet we walked half a mile to go to school in the town. Daddy remembered that on my first day of school I said, 'I want to be a teacher and teach the Indians in the Southwest.' I admired teachers, and it was the only woman's occupation I knew about.
"I loved winter the best because we would go sleigh riding and skiing. Winter was so special because you could take your sled to school and then you cold sleigh ride down the hill for about a mile. I loved school and had many friends.
"I loved 4-H, which I was involved in ever since I was 10 years old. I made a dress when I was ten. In college, I lived in the 4-H House, and that's where I learned to cook.
"Neither mom nor dad went very far in school, mainly because dad had to work on his dad's farm and mother had to take care of her mother. We lived on the state road -- now Route 20 -- and in our little town people did go to school. Daddy and mother spoke very good English, so you'd think they were educated. My parents always expected that their three daughters would go to college, which we did.
After high school, Kay entered the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign where she continued her involvement with 4-H and majored in Home Economics. She met her future husband, Dan McClelland, in the summer of 1938 between her freshman and sophomore years. Dan graduated from the U of I in 1939 and they were married in April 1941 before her graduation because he had been called to active duty in the US Army. Over the next 20 years of his military career they lived in 37 different places, and everywhere they lived she worked as a teacher.
In 1957 he was posted to the University of Illinois ROTC program, they built a house in Urbana and they lived in Urbana ever since. A few months after they moved, Kay began working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). She resigned from DCFS in 1969 and in 1976 began work as a consultant with Head Start. She worked with Head Start, first as a trainer and then as an assessor, for over 25 years, retiring in her 80s.
"I was the oldest of 3 girls, and kind of a tomboy, going with my dad, the farmer. Dad had a farm on which he built his own house before he was married at 41 years of age. Mom was 32, and they had gone together for ten years. They waited to marry because mom had to care for her ailing mother.
"We had a very normal, happy childhood. Living in the country we had butter and cream, yet we walked half a mile to go to school in the town. Daddy remembered that on my first day of school I said, 'I want to be a teacher and teach the Indians in the Southwest.' I admired teachers, and it was the only woman's occupation I knew about.
"I loved winter the best because we would go sleigh riding and skiing. Winter was so special because you could take your sled to school and then you cold sleigh ride down the hill for about a mile. I loved school and had many friends.
"I loved 4-H, which I was involved in ever since I was 10 years old. I made a dress when I was ten. In college, I lived in the 4-H House, and that's where I learned to cook.
"Neither mom nor dad went very far in school, mainly because dad had to work on his dad's farm and mother had to take care of her mother. We lived on the state road -- now Route 20 -- and in our little town people did go to school. Daddy and mother spoke very good English, so you'd think they were educated. My parents always expected that their three daughters would go to college, which we did.
After high school, Kay entered the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign where she continued her involvement with 4-H and majored in Home Economics. She met her future husband, Dan McClelland, in the summer of 1938 between her freshman and sophomore years. Dan graduated from the U of I in 1939 and they were married in April 1941 before her graduation because he had been called to active duty in the US Army. Over the next 20 years of his military career they lived in 37 different places, and everywhere they lived she worked as a teacher.
In 1957 he was posted to the University of Illinois ROTC program, they built a house in Urbana and they lived in Urbana ever since. A few months after they moved, Kay began working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). She resigned from DCFS in 1969 and in 1976 began work as a consultant with Head Start. She worked with Head Start, first as a trainer and then as an assessor, for over 25 years, retiring in her 80s.
In her own words:
"I was the oldest of 3 girls, and kind of a tomboy, going with my dad, the farmer. Dad had a farm on which he built his own house before he was married at 41 years of age. Mom was 32, and they had gone together for ten years. They waited to marry because mom had to care for her ailing mother.
"We had a very normal, happy childhood. Living in the country we had butter and cream, yet we walked half a mile to go to school in the town. Daddy remembered that on my first day of school I said, 'I want to be a teacher and teach the Indians in the Southwest.' I admired teachers, and it was the only woman's occupation I knew about.
"I loved winter the best because we would go sleigh riding and skiing. Winter was so special because you could take your sled to school and then you cold sleigh ride down the hill for about a mile. I loved school and had many friends.
"I loved 4-H, which I was involved in ever since I was 10 years old. I made a dress when I was ten. In college, I lived in the 4-H House, and that's where I learned to cook.
"Neither mom nor dad went very far in school, mainly because dad had to work on his dad's farm and mother had to take care of her mother. We lived on the state road -- now Route 20 -- and in our little town people did go to school. Daddy and mother spoke very good English, so you'd think they were educated. My parents always expected that their three daughters would go to college, which we did.
After high school, Kay entered the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign where she continued her involvement with 4-H and majored in Home Economics. She met her future husband, Dan McClelland, in the summer of 1938 between her freshman and sophomore years. Dan graduated from the U of I in 1939 and they were married in April 1941 before her graduation because he had been called to active duty in the US Army. Over the next 20 years of his military career they lived in 37 different places, and everywhere they lived she worked as a teacher.
In 1957 he was posted to the University of Illinois ROTC program, they built a house in Urbana and they lived in Urbana ever since. A few months after they moved, Kay began working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). She resigned from DCFS in 1969 and in 1976 began work as a consultant with Head Start. She worked with Head Start, first as a trainer and then as an assessor, for over 25 years, retiring in her 80s.
"I was the oldest of 3 girls, and kind of a tomboy, going with my dad, the farmer. Dad had a farm on which he built his own house before he was married at 41 years of age. Mom was 32, and they had gone together for ten years. They waited to marry because mom had to care for her ailing mother.
"We had a very normal, happy childhood. Living in the country we had butter and cream, yet we walked half a mile to go to school in the town. Daddy remembered that on my first day of school I said, 'I want to be a teacher and teach the Indians in the Southwest.' I admired teachers, and it was the only woman's occupation I knew about.
"I loved winter the best because we would go sleigh riding and skiing. Winter was so special because you could take your sled to school and then you cold sleigh ride down the hill for about a mile. I loved school and had many friends.
"I loved 4-H, which I was involved in ever since I was 10 years old. I made a dress when I was ten. In college, I lived in the 4-H House, and that's where I learned to cook.
"Neither mom nor dad went very far in school, mainly because dad had to work on his dad's farm and mother had to take care of her mother. We lived on the state road -- now Route 20 -- and in our little town people did go to school. Daddy and mother spoke very good English, so you'd think they were educated. My parents always expected that their three daughters would go to college, which we did.
After high school, Kay entered the University of Illinois/Urbana-Champaign where she continued her involvement with 4-H and majored in Home Economics. She met her future husband, Dan McClelland, in the summer of 1938 between her freshman and sophomore years. Dan graduated from the U of I in 1939 and they were married in April 1941 before her graduation because he had been called to active duty in the US Army. Over the next 20 years of his military career they lived in 37 different places, and everywhere they lived she worked as a teacher.
In 1957 he was posted to the University of Illinois ROTC program, they built a house in Urbana and they lived in Urbana ever since. A few months after they moved, Kay began working for the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS). She resigned from DCFS in 1969 and in 1976 began work as a consultant with Head Start. She worked with Head Start, first as a trainer and then as an assessor, for over 25 years, retiring in her 80s.
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See more McClelland or Siemen memorials in:
- Woodlawn Cemetery McClelland or Siemen
- Urbana McClelland or Siemen
- Champaign County McClelland or Siemen
- Illinois McClelland or Siemen
- USA McClelland or Siemen
- Find a Grave McClelland or Siemen
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