Hope Bowlin McClure

Hope Bowlin McClure

Evelyn Hope Bowlin was born to Willa Harding Bowlin and Claude Bowlin Sr. the third day of July 1925 on the Carrington Ranch near Breece, NM.

As the daughter and second child of off-reservation Indian Traders, Hope spent her early years at Grants, Farmington, Bluewater Valley, and Gallup NM. She was a graduate of Gallup High School class of 1944. It was during high school that she met her future husband, Frank McClure; they were married in 1946 after the end of WWII when he returned from serving in the US Marine Corps. They were parted by his death after 59 loving years of marriage.

Hope and Frank raised their family at Gage, Bluewater Valley, and for many years at Grants, NM where they were co-owners of several businesses including Stuckey’s Pecan Shoppe franchises.

She was a lifelong member of the Order of the Eastern Star, serving as Worthy Grand Matron for The Grand Chapter of New Mexico. She was a member of All Saints’ Episcopal Church, and a lifelong member of Beta Sigma Phi. She was active in Democrat party politics and was honored as instrumental in the formation of the Mining Museum at Grants, NM. She was a frequent lecturer at the NMSU Grants Campus Elderhostel program and moderated the History of Grants Workshop for their community education program. In her leisure time she enjoyed traveling, reading, needlepoint, gardening, and hosting dinner parties for family and friends.

Hope passed peacefully from this life to the next on Thursday, Sept 22, 2022. In death she joins her beloved husband, parents, older brother Claude Bowlin Jr. and his wife, Mary Alice Showalter Bowlin, and foster brother, Tom Lee.

Remaining to celebrate her legacy and mourn her passing are her son, Wayne McClure; daughter, Patricia McClure and husband, Kraig Williams; granddaughters, Angella Hatton, Courtney McClure, Allison Hatton Sandoval, and Kristin McClure; brother, Michael Bowlin and wife, Monica Anderson Bowlin; daughter-in-love, Donna Paulson McClure; nieces, Cheryll Bowlin Blevins, Valkyrie Bowlin Musarra, Kimberly Bowlin, and Emily Bowlin, and her great-grandchildren.

Friends and family are welcome at two services which will be held Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at St. Michael’s & All Angels Episcopal Church, 601 Montano Rd. NW, Albuquerque, NM 87107. At 1:30 p.m., the Eastern Star Funeral Ceremony will be held at The Pavilion building, and at 2:00 p.m. the Episcopal service will be held at the church. She will be interred next to her husband at Grants Memorial Park Cemetery.

Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice in her name, or to Grand Chapter of New Mexico OES Charity Foundation P.O. Box 1209 Las Cruces, NM 88004-1209 Please visit our online guestbook for Hope at www.FrenchFunerals.com