From the Grinnell (Iowa) Herald Register:
Katherine Howard McClelland died on June 18, 2022, at the age of 74. Her unexpectedly sudden death came as the result of a blood infection that lodged in her heart and caused a series of strokes.
Katherine was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1947, the daughter of Gordon and Anne Howard. After her childhood in Alexandria, Virginia, she lived in Ohio, Massachusetts, Alaska, New Jersey, New Hampshire, and Florida, before moving to Grinnell in 1982.
Katherine graduated from Oberlin College and earned an M.Ed. at Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. While at Oberlin College, Katherine met Kent McClelland, and they were married in 1969. Their two children, Laura McClelland Otto and David McClelland, grew up in Grinnell and went to high school here.
Katherine began her career by teaching elementary school, before coming to Grinnell College, where she became director of the Math Lab, a tutoring service for students in introductory mathematics and statistics courses. In her 28 years as Math Lab director and lecturer in Mathematics, Katherine trained and supervised teams of student tutors and worked with hundreds of students individually to help them succeed in their courses. In her later years at the College, Katherine taught introductory statistics courses, and she continued after her retirement in 2012 to teach statistics courses in the Grinnell College Liberal Arts in the Prison Program at the Newton Correctional Facility.
In 2015, Katherine and her husband moved to the Mayflower Retirement Community in Grinnell, and she entered wholeheartedly into the life of that community by serving as Co-President of the Mayflower Residents Association, serving on the Information Resources Committee, and chairing committees in charge of the library and the community garden at the Mayflower. She was a woman full of great ideas, and she knew how to make things happen.
Katherine traveled extensively across the United States and in Europe, and she kept in touch with friends in many far-flung locations. She loved reading, spending time in the out-of-doors, preparing delicious meals, and listening and laughing with her friends and family.
A memorial service will be held this summer at Cliff Island, Maine, where she spent nearly every summer of her life, as did her mother and grandfather before her. A memorial service is also planned for Grinnell later this fall, at a time yet to be determined.
Katherine is survived by her husband, Kent; by her brother, Bob Howard, who lives on Cliff Island; by her daughter, Laura (Torsten) Otto, and grandsons, Toby and Liam, who live in Germany; and by her son, David (Karen) McClelland, and grandson, Lewis, who live in Oregon. She was preceded in death by her parents, Anne and Gordon Howard, and by her older sister, Peggy Howard.
Gifts may be made in her memory to the Poweshiek County Conservation Board (via GPCF, PO Box 344, Grinnell, IA 50112, greaterpcf.org) or to the Jasper County Conservation Board (Jasper Conservation Connection, PO Box 1332, Newton, IA 50208). Katherine treasured the beautiful outdoor spaces here in Iowa.