Résumé

Draftsman/Designer, J. Lister Holmes, Architect, Seattle, WA, 1939-1942, 1946-1947.

Designer, Samuel Glaser, Architect, Boston, MA, 1945-1946.

Partner, McClure and [Thomas] Adkison, Architects, AIA, Spokane, WA, 1947-1966.

Principal, Royal A. McClure and Company, Architects, Seattle, WA, 1966-1970.

Partner, McClure/Nixon, Architects, Seattle, WA, c. 1970-1975; in 1970, McClure/Nixon occupied Office #1502 in the IBM Building in Downtown Seattle. This firm designed the

Partner, McClure/Nixon/Farr, Architects, Seattle, WA, and Anchorage, AK, c. 1975-1977. McClure/Nixon/Farr designed the Science Building at the University of Alaska, Anchorage, in 1977.

Teaching

Acting Head of the Architecture Department, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, 1947-1948; at Idaho, he served as an administrator, taught design, theory, and art appreciation.

Charter Member, Planning Association of WA; McClure joined the American Institute of Architects (AIA) in 1949. Member, AIA, Spokane Chapter, 1949-1966; Chairman, Civil Compet, AIA, Spokane Chapter, 1952-1954; Chairman, Public Relations Committee, AIA, Spokane Chapter, 1952-1954; Chairman, Spokane County Planning Commission, Spokane, WA, 1953; Member, Municipal League, Spokane, WA; McClure was a Registered Architect in the States of ID and WA in 1955. Second Vice-President, AIA, Spokane Chapter, Spokane, WA, 1955; Member, WA State Architectural Examining Board, Olympia, WA, 1956; Member, AIA, Seattle Chapter, Seattle, WA, 1966-1979; Member, AIA, WA State Council; Member, Seattle Chamber of Commerce, Urban Planning and Development; Member, Mayor's Commission, Market Historical District, Seattle, WA; Ad Hoc Member, Interim Planning Study of International Dist, Seattle, WA; Ad Hoc Member, Alternative High School Program Development, Seattle Public Schools, Seattle, WA. At the end of his career, McClure was a Registered Architect in WA, AK and HI. He was NCARB Certified.

College

B.Arch., University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1942.

M.Arch., Harvard University, Cambridge, MA, 1946. In the late 1930s, McClure traveled with school chum Fred Bassetti (1917-2013) to view work by Frank Lloyd Wright and Eliel Saarinent in the eastern US. Bassetti traveled a lot on his own, sometimes hitchhiking, sometimes buying used cars in the East, driving them West, and then reselling them at a profit.

College Awards

Recipient, University of Washington, Chi Omega Inspirational Award, Seattle, WA.

Named to Tau Sigma Delta, scholastic honor society in architecture and the allied arts, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1940.

Recipient, Student AIA Medal, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1942.

Recipient, Alpha Rho Chi Award, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, 1942.

Recipient, Harvard University, Arthur Wheelwright Travel Scholarship for Excellence in Practice, 1954-1955; at this time, he spent six months in Europe.

Relocation

The McClure Family lived at 159 Hayes Street in Seattle, WA, in 1920. He attended the University of Washington in Seattle and moved to Cambridge, MA, for graduate school at Harvard. He returned to WA in 1947, setting up a practice with Thomas Adkison in Spokane, WA. McClure and Adkison maintained a leading Spokane architectural practice for 19 years.

McClure relocated his practice to the Puget Sound area in 1966, living at 3858 Hunts Point Road, then part of Bellevue, (now Hunts Point) WA.

After retirement, he erected a vacation house on Crane Island, WA, living there c. 1978-1989. (The architect Wendell Lovett [1922-2016] also had a vacation house on Crane Island, built in 1972.)

McClure and his wife moved to Maui, HI, in 1989, staying there for six years. He returned to WA in 1995, living on Anderson Island. His last residence was in the 98335 zip code of Gig Harbor, WA.

Parents

His father, Royal A. McClure, Sr. (born c. 1866 in IA-d. 11/11/1928 in Seattle, WA), grew up on a farm in Sugar Grove, IA, one of four children born to John O. (born c. 1840 in IN) and Cynthia McClure (born c. 1849 in IL). (The 1920 US Census indicated that John had come from IL and Cynthia, IN.) Washington State Death Records indicated that Royal A. McClure, Sr's parents were John O. McClure and Hattie C. Uran. McClure, Sr., became an physician with a general practice and had migrated to Seattle, WA, before 1910. By 1910, he had married twice, his second marriage to the former Jessie Van Zandt (born c. 1870 in IA), occurred on 06/24/1909 in Seattle. According to the US Census of 1910, McClure, Sr., lived with Jessie and his step daughter, Gretchen (born c. 1897 in IA) at 943 18th Avenue North.

His mother was Dr. McClure's third wife, Helen McClure (born c. 1891 in WI), a homemaker, who was 24 years younger than her husband. Her parents had been German immigrants. Dr. McClure and Helen had two children, Marie Helen (born c. 03/1916 in WA) and Royal, Jr.

Spouse

Royal A. McClure, Jr., married Clara L. Willfong on 03/28/1942 in Seattle, WA.

He later married Joyce B. McClure.

Children

When surveyed in 1955, McClure indicated that he had had 3 children. Two children accompanied their parents on a European vacation in 1954. Royal A. McClure III (born 11/13/1945 in WA) and Matia McClure (born c. 1947).

Royal A. McClure III, a Yale Medical School graduate, became a physician like his grandfather. Leslie McClure Wright was the third daughter.

Biographical Notes

On 09/24/1954, the McClure Family arrived in Southampton, UK, from New York, NY, aboard the Holland America liner, Rijndam. Their final destination was Zurich, Switzerland. In 1955, McClure indicated that he had traveled in South America.

An earlier PCAD entry for a "Royal L. McClure" Architect ID#3482 appears to have been erroneous. An article published in the Los Angeles-based Arts and Architecture Magazine in 1947 introduced the name, and initial searches in the Social Security Death Index yielded the existence in Los Angeles of Royal L. McClure (02/24/1896-12/11/1964, SSN: 557-14-8643). Royal L. McClure married Margaret Brassill (born c. 1893) in 08/1924, and died in the city in 1964. There is no evidence, however, that this Royal L. McClure was an architect. It is more likely that the youthful Spokane, WA-based architect, Royal A. McClure, Jr., submitted projects to Arts and Architecture fresh out of Harvard's Graduate School of Design in 1946. As of 12/09/2010, Royal L. McClure's name has been removed from PCAD, and the Architect ID #3482 has been reassigned to Kenneth H. Neptune.

Member, Washington State Roadside Council.

Member, WA Environmental Council; Member, Clean Air for WA.

SSN: 531-09-6314.