Born: August 4, 1906 - Wichita, Kansas
Died: May 10, 1974
Interred: cremation
Russell E. McClure was hired as city manager on July 28, 1941, after his predecessor Donald Gordon resigned after serving only two months as city manager.
Mr. McClure was a native-born Wichitan who had been born on the 12th block of old South Lawrence Road (now Broadway) to Mr. and Mrs. E.C. McClure. In January 1929, he married Joyce Thomas of Council Grove, Kansas. Their union produced two children, Tom and Joyce.
Russell McClure, who retired from city government on February 4, 1972, first served as Wichita city manager from 1941-48, after a 10-year stint as first executive secretary of the Wichita Independent Businessmen's Association.
He was city manager in Dayton, Ohio for four years and of Corpus Christi, Texas, for five years, following his first term in Wichita. While in Corpus Christi, he served as president (1955-56) of the International City Management Association.
McClure served from July 1958 to July 1960 as general manager of the Khuzestan Development Service in Iran before returning to Wichita to become first executive vice president of Greater Downtown Wichita Inc. He worked through that organization for the revitalization of the downtown business district. He saw some of those plans completed during his second term as city manager, from 1962-68, including construction of Century II and the new Wichita Public Library.
In September 1968, McClure stepped down from his post to become deputy city manager for urban affairs.
In that capacity, he oversaw development of Wichita's Model Cities Program, a $4 million federal program to improve health, housing, education, employment and social services in designated model neighborhoods in the center city.
McClure coordinated activities of the Local Housing Authority which provided housing for low-income families, and the Human Resource Development office, which dealt with community programs involving housing, employment, welfare and related areas.
He was also instrumental in organizing a regional Council of Governments and in helping set up a series of urban policy seminars for business and government leaders.
While city manager, he instituted for Wichita city employees a personnel merit system, a retirement program, employees' council and grievance procedures.
In 1969, he received the Clarence E. Ridley In-Service Training Award from the International City Management Association in recognition for his activities in the field of personnel training.
He died in 1974 after a long illness and was cremated.