TORRANCE - James Wilson McClain, born Dec. 20, 1918 in Dubuque, Iowa, and a resident of Torrance for nearly 60 years, passed away on April 8.He graduated from Columbia Academy in 1936 and attended Loras College prior to his service in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. He married his hometown sweetheart, Katy Ryan, at Dow Field in Bangor, Maine, in 1944 and, after a brief time living in Dubuque, they moved to Torrance to raise their five children. He was an active member of Nativity Catholic Church, serving as an officer of the St. Vincent de Paul Society which assisted the area's poor and needy. In the 1960s he was instrumental in helping to settle hundreds of Cuban refugees to new homes in the Torrance area. He worked for 30 years as a mechanical engineer for Midland Rubber and Shell Chemical and Oil until his retirement in 1982. An avid golfer, he started as a teenaged caddy and played until he was 89. He also enjoyed traveling, especially road and camping trips. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, Kathleen R. McClain; brother, Leonard McClain of Dubuque; sons, Pat, Mike and Dan McClain; daughters, Susan Wells and Ann Guerra; sons- and daughters-in-law, Claudia McClain, Kathleen Quinn, Leonard Wells, Felicia McClain and Mario Guerra; and grandchildren, Tim and Caitlin McClain, Sean and Anthony Wells, Megan and Monica McClain, and Mario, Lynne, Matt, Haley and Ryan Guerra. A gathering of family and friends will be held at Halverson, Stone & Myers Mortuary, 1223 Cravens Ave. in Torrance, on April 15 at 4 p.m., with a Rosary service commencing at 7 p.m. The funeral Mass will be held April 16 at 9:30 a.m. at Nativity Catholic Church, 1447 Engracia Ave. in Torrance. Burial will follow at Green Hills Memorial Park in Rancho Palos Verdes. Visit the mortuary's website at halversonstonemyers.com to send the family messages, share memories or to obtain directions to funeral services.

********** Published: April 14, 2011 - Volume 9 - Issue 52