John Ronald MacLean Jr., the son of Mr. and Mrs. John R. MacLean, was born in Pueblo, CO. He grew up as a happy child with a supportive family in Pueblo, which was then a steel mill town. His father was a businessman, and his mother was a dedicated schoolteacher. She encouraged John to work hard on his schoolwork, while his father encouraged him in athletics and outdoor activities, which were lifelong passions.
John was a popular student at Centennial High School in Pueblo, where he was captain of the football team and an outstanding basketball player. After graduation in 1956, he enrolled at the University of Oklahoma and, while at a fraternity party, received a call from his father that he had been appointed to West Point by Congressman J. Edgar Chenoweth. His father said, “Hello General,” displaying the same humor that John had. John then enrolled at the prep school in Washington, DC to prepare for West Point.
At West Point, John was recognized as an outgoing person and emerging leader. He was successful in academics and mastered courses ranging from mathematics through liberal arts and military studies. He was on the Plebe Basketball Team and proud that Coach Hank Emerson would put him in a game as the “enforcer,” during which he usually fouled out quickly. John was an end on the B squad Football Team yearling year, and participated enthusiastically in extracurricular activities, including the Ski and Skeet clubs. Unfortunately, he broke his ankle using bear trap bindings on the rope tow ski run at West Point. He also enjoyed traveling to several cities to compete in skeet shoots. John was a cow corporal and then a cadet lieutenant. He enjoyed talking with friends about dreams for the future and current political topics. During summers, John enjoyed traveling, especially back to Colorado to revisit his favorite trout streams. In 1960, while on a fishing trip in Lake City, CO, he met Carol Jean Turner from Cleburne, TX, and this started their New York-Texas romance, which resulted in marriage in 1962.
Upon graduation, John was commissioned a second lieutenant and attended Artillery School at Fort Sill, OK. He was then sent to Friedberg, Germany and became a battery commander for the 27th Artillery of the Third Armored Division. John and Carol Jean enjoyed living nearby in Bad Nauheim, where their daughter, Leslie, was born in 1964.
After a successful tour, John decided to join civilian life and study law, which was a passion of his at West Point. He, Carol Jean, and Leslie moved to Nashville, TN, where John attended Vanderbilt Law School and had fellowship with his Uncle Pete, his mother’s brother. John thrived at law school and served as the Vanderbilt Bar Association president.
After John’s graduation from Vanderbilt in 1967, the family moved to Cleburne to start a new career and life. A son, John R. (Scotty) MacLean, was born. Scotty grew up and married Pepper, of Fort Worth, TX, and had two sons, Turner and Mack, whom John bragged about frequently. Leslie and Scotty continued the family tradition by becoming outstanding lawyers.
In Cleburne, John joined the law practice of his father-in-law, Gean Turner, who John credited with mentoring him for a successful law career. Gean suggested that John seek public office, and John served as county and district attorney for Johnson County before being appointed by Governor Mark White in 1984 to serve as judge of the 249th District Court, a bench to which he was elected two years later. He proudly served in public office for 24 years. John was board certified by the Texas Board of Legal Specialization in Criminal Law and Personal Injury Law and was one of only six Texas judges with two board certifications. After leaving the bench in 1990, John opened a private law office in Cleburne with his close friend, Dan Boulware. MacLean & Boulware had a successful plaintiff’s trial practice until Dan’s death in 2016. During his legal career, John was a national board member of the American Board of Trial Advocates; a member of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the American Trial Lawyers Association, and a Texas Bar fellow; and, in 1990, awarded the Gean B. Turner Memorial Award for Outstanding Lawyer by the Johnson County Bar Association.
John was a solid family man and was married to Carol Jean for 58 years. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church in Cleburne, where he served in various capacities. John also served as chairman of the Johnson County United Way. As newlyweds John and Carol Jean had traveled throughout Europe, and they later enjoyed many memorable family trips to destinations such as Scotland, Argentina, Costa Rica, Peru, Spain, and Russia. What John loved more than travel, however, was the time spent in Vail Valley with Carol Jean, Leslie, Scotty and Pepper, and grandsons, Turner and Mack. John and Carol Jean also developed many lasting and cherished friendships in Vail Valley.
John was very generous and had a magnetic personality that attracted many friends. He was a great communicator and storyteller. His close friend and hunting partner, Cheesy Nelson, said that John could “communicate with a fence post.” John was an avid outdoorsman and loved nothing more than a blue-sky ski day, a day of fly fishing on any mountain stream, and any day in a duck blind with a couple of friends and a black lab by his side. He was also a private pilot and enjoyed aviation for many years. He learned to snowboard on his 60th birthday to surprise his children. He said he could die a happy man because his grandsons enjoyed the same outdoor sports he so much enjoyed.
— Dr. Neil Grigg