Adeline “Bunny” McClain passed away peacefully September 10, 2019 surrounded by family following a short illness. Bunny was born on December 21, 1930 to parents Joe and Frances Garbarino in Sacramento CA. Except for a short stint in Marysville, she lived there all of her life. She has a younger sister Dorothy who says they fought as children, but they grew up to be loving sisters, good friends and frequent travel buddies. She attended Immaculate Conception Elementary School and St. Joseph’s High School and during this time met life-time friends Pat Boulware and Thea Seese as well as many others who she saw at reunions throughout the years.
While attending Sacramento City College she met her husband to be Walter “Wally” McClain Jr. They both attended the University of Oregon in Eugene and married on 10/25/1952. During her college years she was editor of many college publications and graduated with a degree in Journalism. Bunny and Wally had six children, Karen (Roger), Dawn, Anne (Mike), Gail, Lynn and Walter. Those children provided them with eight grandchildren, Ian, Lonnie, Sarah, Chelsea, Faith, Emily, Ben and Peter. Wally died in 2011 so he did not see his great-grandchildren but Addy (Bunny’s namesake, Adeline) and the new twins, Andrew and Beverley added great joy to Bunny’s life.
The first home she and Wally lived in was in a brand-new neighborhood called North Highlands. The little flat-top home served them well until they built a larger home “in the sticks” of Carmichael where she lived from 1963 until she died. The home has served as a cornerstone for the McClain family life, hosting every Christmas since 1963, a multitude of birthdays, wedding receptions and graduation parties, as well as been a home for her son and several grandchildren over the years. The house will never be the same with her gone.
During her years with children we especially remember the annual vacations. Always shared with her sister Dorothy and husband Vern and family, Dan, Patti, Terri and Julie there were many adventures, For most of the children the most memorable trip was driving across the country and yes with 4 adults, 10 kids, 2 station wagons and 2 trailers! The home movies from that trip keep us entertained even today.
Bunny was obviously busy for many years cooking, transporting and raising her six children. In about 1969, she began working outside the home in the Stationery Department at Weinstocks Department Store where she assisted customers for 17 years. She was remembered fondly by her co-workers and customers alike and lived the true spirit of customer service. Back then the Stationery Department sold other things than stationery so she became an expert in luggage, cutlery, knifes, photo albums and cross pens. She also loved getting a good deal and was thrilled when a desired item was finally marked down to 50% and then her employee discount was added to make it a real steal.
When the children began moving out, she and Wally began their world-wide adventures. The pair traveled with friends and family including Dorothy and Vern, Pat and her husband Bob, friends, Phyllis and George and her mother-in-law Pat. Often she returned from these trips with new friends from all over the world that she exchanged Christmas cards with until her passing. Places they visited in the US included Mt. Rushmore, Hawaii, the Colorado River, Santa Cruz, Tahoe, Leavenworth, Seattle, Yosemite and they drove from California up the Alaska Highway to visit one of Dorothy’s kids in Anchorage. Overseas travel included Costa Rica, the Panama Canal, England, Spain, France, Ireland, Egypt and Israel. Two places that especially moved her were her trips to Lourdes and the Holy Land.
Probably her greatest love was of sports. Her first job was as an usher at the Sacramento Solons Ballpark and this love- especially of baseball- continued into adulthood and beyond. Rarely a day would go by that that there wasn’t some game playing on her TV. She would often switch between channels to check the score when two favorite teams were playing at the same time. She went to un-countable numbers of Oakland A’s and San Francisco Giants games and until the last few years she also attended spring training in Arizona. She never gave up her love for her Oregon Ducks and joined her son and granddaughter in a love of the Raiders (wherever they were) and also the San Francisco 49ers. She could spout off the names of all the Sacramento Kings players and attended the last game that they played at Arco Arena with her grand daughter, Sarah. Although she had her favorite teams, she would watch any local teams and was frustrated with the hospital’s limited choices for sports stations.
She also loved gardening and continued weeding the large yard and dead heading her roses even at 88. She was one of the uncommon people who could get a poinsettia to bloom a second year. She would not pull out a volunteer plant and often had succulent pieces that had broken off, rooting in jars on the windowsill. Neatness or landscape form was not her thing. Mostly bigger was better and one of her goals was to let shrubs grow so she could not see the fence. On a quarter acre lot that was a lot of growing. One the favorite plants in her yard was her Peace rose. She was able to enjoy a few end-of-the-summer blooms in her hospital room.
She was a devout Catholic and her faith played an even larger part in her life after Wally died. She attended 8:00 am Mass at Our Lady of the Assumption, 6 days a week. She was a regularly scheduled adorer at Eucharistic Adorations and often filled in for others if they were unable to do their scheduled times. She was a member of the Our Lady of the Assumption Parish for 56 years.
Of the many roles that Bunny chose in her life she was above all a wife, mother, grandmother and great grandmother. Besides filling that role in her immediate family, she also was a mother figure to many who were not blood relatives. She shared her kindness, generosity and good humor with everyone she met including the person standing behind her in the line at the grocery store. In her unpretentious way, she touched many lives and accepted all without reservation. She will be remembered by her family as the anchor and matriarch of our family and the hole that is left by her passing is deep.
The Visitation will be on September 19 at Lombard Funeral Home from 4-8 pm with Rosary at 7 pm. Funeral Mass September 20 at 9:30 am at Our Lady of the Assumption Church followed by a reception in St. Johns Hall. Burial service will be held at a later date.
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