Burrell B. McLerran

Burrell B. McLerran, 91, of Houston died Feb. 17, 2016, in West Houston Hospital after a short illness.
Memorial services to be held at 11 a.m. on March 19, at Marek-Burns-Laywell Funeral Home, Cameron.
The youngest of six children born to Frank and Mattie McLerran, he was born July 7, 1924, ont he family farm a few miles from town.
Burrell grew up during the depression and became a Christian as a young teenager.
He was in high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and like so many members of the Greatest Generation, after he graduated, he signed up for the war. He served in the Merchant Marines in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans until the end of the conflict.
After the war was over, he returned home to Cameron where he was introduced to Nelda Coward by his cousin. He would later marry Nelda and they would be together for 67 years.
Jobs were hard to get with so many men leaving the service, however he found one at Dow Chemical in Freeport. They hired him into the fire department because he listed his previous job onboard ship as fireman (someone who puts coal into the boiler).
Another of his duties in the fire department was driving an ambulance, picking up injured workers and taking them to the local hospital whenever needed.
When he got a little older he left the fire department and moved to a position as an operating engineer. After 32 years with Dow, he retired and moved to Waco. However, after a few months, he got bored with retirement and took a job in the maintenance department with a company that made computers. When that company got sold a few years later, he switched jobs and went to work for Weyrhauser in their maintenance department. Ten years later, he retired again deciding it was time to enjoy his golden years. He was 68.
Burrell loved the outdoors. Camping, fishing and deer hunting were all hobbies that he enjoyed. He was also good at building things. He built the house that his family lived in during the years at Freeport. He also liked building boats. He built several canoes during his lifetime. One he built in the extra bedroom, having to remove the windows to get it out of the house. He fished out of that canoe for decades.
He liked to garden, growing one each spring and fall. He served in his church. He taught Sunday school and was a deacon there in his younger years.
Burrell and Nelda moved to Houston in 2013 to be closer to their son. They became residents of Terry Towne Retirement community in the fall of that year. Burrell lived there until he graduated to Heaven on Feb. 17, 2016.
Ninety-one years is a good long life. Burrell was blessed with good health for most of his life and was a blessing to most people who had the good fortune to know him. He was a good son to his parents, a good husband to his wife and a good father to his son. He will be missed.
Since Burrell loved to fish, he is probably talking to St. Peter about that subject and how catching them with a net is not as sporting as using light tackle and a worm rigged Texas style.
In addition to his wife Nelda McLerran and his son, Richard D. McLerran, both of Houston he is survived by a granddaughter, Jenny McLerran of Austin.