Hugh McClearn was a lawyer, Democratic activist, real estate investor, biker, skier and sometimes the guy who fixed the fence on his mountain property.
McClearn, former Denver manager of safety, died Aug. 9 at age 74 from complications after a bicycle accident four years ago in Corsica, as well as other health problems, said his wife, Pat McClearn.
Hugh McClearn successfully defended black employees of the Pullman Co. who had claimed the company discriminated against them.
The case began in the late 1960s and went on for 11 years before McClearn won before the U.S. Supreme Court.
McClearn spent much of his own money to work on the case, said Ned Heppenstall, Denver lawyer and one-time partner of McClearn.
“Hugh was an incredibly generous person, but he never trumpeted that,” Heppenstall said.
A staunch Democrat, McClearn managed the unsuccessful U.S. Senate campaign in 1966 of Roy Romer, who later became governor, and the unsuccessful 1983 campaign of former Denver District Attorney Dale Tooley, who ran for mayor.
McClearn and his brother, William McClearn, also a Denver lawyer, once were on the same case on opposite sides. According to a story in The Denver Post, they argued a constitutional matter before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
But before the appellate court ruled, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on another case, which made the McClearns’ case moot.
The brothers, though good friends, were “absolutely not” in agreement on politics, said William McClearn.
“My brother was the first Democrat in a long line of Republicans,” said William McClearn. “Our mother blamed it on the fact Hugh went to Yale.”
Hugh McClearn’s wide interests included doing pro bono work for blacks in Mississippi in the 1960s, helping them register to vote, and he gave time and money to Denver Public Schools-based clinics, Heppenstall said. He also was involved in several real estate ventures, including being part owner at one time of the Brittany Hill Restaurant north of Denver.
McClearn and his wife were part owners of a ranch in Grand County. Hugh McClearn loved to ride horses and fix fences and often involved friends in fence-fixing, some of whom weren’t as enamored of the activity as he was.
Hugh McClearn was born in Duluth, Minn., on April 7, 1933, graduated from the University of New Mexico and Yale Law School and then worked for the Davis Graham & Stubbs law firm in Denver for several years. After working for the city, he was in private practice, usually doing work for corporations.
He met Pat Brown on a blind date in California while he was in the service.
In addition to her, he is survived by their sons, Andrew McClearn of Mexico City and Cameron McClearn of Summit, N.J., and three grandchildren.
Staff writer Virginia Culver can be reached at 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com.
