McClain Fund
This fund supports annual donations to the Five Rivers Public Library in Parsons, WV, in memory of Christine Faith Reynolds McClain and Russell Kenneth McClain.
TYPE OF FUND: Designated
DATE ESTABLISHED: May 8, 1993
PURPOSE: To honor the memory of Christine Faith Reynolds McClain (3/25/1916 – 2/2/1990) and Russell Kenneth McClain (8/1/1908 – 4/15/1977) by providing annual donations to Five Rivers Public Library, Parsons, WV.
DISTRIBUTION: Annual donations to Five Rivers Public Library, Parsons, WV and upon the recommendation of the Grants Committee and approval by the Board of Directors of TCF.
VARIANCE POWER: If, in the judgment of the TCF Board of Directors, the restrictions and conditions of the fund become unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community, the TCF Board of Directors maintains the right to modify the terms of this fund.
FUNDING: Initial donation in 1990 by George A. (Jr.) and Mariwyn Faith McClain Smith and subsequent donations from McClain Printing Company, the Parsons Advocate, and proceeds from the cookbook, Cakes…Cakes… and more Cakes, a book of recipes from the Merry Wind column of the Advocate written by Mariwyn M. Smith, editor/co-owner of the Parsons Advocate from 1971 to 1990.
BACKGROUND: Ken and Faith McClain were the owners of the Parsons Advocate from 1943 to 1971. They established McClain Printing Company in 1958 and were major stockholders until 1978. Mr. and Mrs. McClain and their three small children moved from Morgantown to Parsons on January 1, 1943, when they purchased the newspaper. From that time, until ill health made it impossible, they were very active in their community and church. In 1973, they moved to Florida when Mr. McClain became too ill to work and remained there until their deaths.
McClain Printing Company was established at the request of West Virginia University professors of history who had known Ken McClain when he lived in Morgantown. They approached him in the mid-1950s with a request that he reprint West Virginia history books that were no longer available. He began with Chronicles of Border Warfare by Withers, printing it under the name of the newspaper. McClain Printing Company was incorporated in 1958 when it became evident that the printing of books could be a profitable business.
Mr. and Mrs. McClain were avid readers, and at the time they moved to Florida, had been watching daily as the new library was being built at the corner of Third and Walnut streets in Parsons, just three blocks from their home. This background provided the incentive for establishing this memorial fund in their name to benefit the library.
Mr. and Mrs. McClain were the proud parents of three children: Edward Ferrell McClain was born August 12, 1935. He spent his adult life in Wisconsin where he was a professor at the University of Wisconsin. He was twice elected to the Wisconsin House of Delegates and was active in political life thereafter. Dr. McClain died January 7, 1993 as a result of cancer. He was the father of two sons, Russell Edward Moore McClain and Matthew Layton McClain.
Mariwyn Faith McClain Smith was born April 17, 1937. She and her husband George returned to Parsons in March 1971 when her father became ill; she as editor of the newspaper and her husband who would then become president of the printing company. They are the parents of three children: son Kenneth Edward Smith, VP of McClain Printing, and daughters Barbara Lynne Smith Broaddus and Faith Anne Smith Robinson.
Rachel O’Deal McClain Wright was born February 15, 1939. She has been employed in various positions in printing companies, mainly in Virginia. She and her husband married in 1995 and lived in Bridgewater, VA. She is the mother of one son, Frank McClain Wright. He is the father of two sons, Carl (Jr.) and Steve; and together they are the parents of a son, Jonathan Wynn Wright.
