Madelene Wintermute McClure ’25

Alumna

“I am proud of what Pine Manor has become, and I know that it has developed far beyond what Miss Cooke envisioned. However, I think that she would be pleased.”

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Still on the Go…

Once a week, Madelene W. McClure ’25 goes shopping for as many as 16 of her neighbors, she dines regularly at the local restaurants, and she is a well-known figure in her Florida community.

The spry 99-year-old (she turns 100 in April) recently renewed her driver’s license. “I need my car to get around in, and I passed the test with flying colors,” she reported proudly, “but now I have to decide what to do when it expires in three years. If I decide to renew it again, I’ll have to buy myself a new car as well, or else I’ll have to carefully consider the option of taking public transportation.”

“I’m glad that I still drive because I can help my neighbors,” McClure explained. “Many of them are completely housebound and really depend on me to get some of their necessities.”

In 1981, McClure moved into the John Knox Village Retirement Community in Orange City, Florida, a move that did not slow her down in the slightest. She quickly joined the community’s board of directors, volunteered at the local hospital, and became the board representative for the 16 residents who live on her floor.

“I’m sort of a den mother, really,” McClure said. “I try to solve the residents’ problems, get answers to their questions, and help out in any way that I can. During the three hurricanes that hit us this season, I sheltered four people in my apartment when their own homes began to leak.”

McClure was born in New York City, where she attended a private academy. After graduation, she wanted to go to Vassar College with most of her friends, but Vassar didn’t offer a music program that met her needs.

After an interview with Miss Helen Temple Cooke, she decided that Pine Manor was the place for her. “In those days, Miss Cooke met with every candidate and her family and took pains to explain the program and what was expected. Miss Cooke was forthright and emphasized ‘no lipstick, no makeup, and no low-cut dresses!’–but she was great, and I got to spend a year living in her house.”

“Pine Manor then was really a sort of a finishing school, and I loved it,” McClure recalled. “My classmates came from all over, including Hawaii, England, and the Continent. Everyone got along well, and we had very happy times.”

Participating in a program co-sponsored by the New England Conservatory of Music, McClure earned an AA degree in music. After graduation she lived with her grandmother in Boston, and continued her education at the Conservatory, earning both a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in music and voice.

While working in the rare book division of Scribner’s in New York City, she continued her music as an accompanist to many notable radio stars. During World War II, McClure worked at the Interallied Information Center and helped set up speaking tours for government representatives who talked about what was going on in Europe.

After the war, she worked at a music publishing house co-owned by singer Perry Como, for whom she often played. She reviewed new scores and manuscripts and decided which of them showed promise.

Later she served as the assistant to the director of a hospital in Summit, New Jersey, before retiring to St. Croix. “My retirement lasted two months,” McClure recalled. “I got bored so I went to work for a doctor who was setting up his own clinic. Eventually I became the chief of operations and was responsible for everything from scheduling to billing.”

Married late and then widowed for many years, McClure said that she has had an interesting life. “I have always tried to help out wherever I could, primarily with children, orphans, and people with physical disabilities.”

“I have been privileged,” McClure emphasized, “and I have enjoyed many things without really having to work for them. As a result, I try to share my good fortune. That is why I have set up a scholarship at PMC. I want deserving young women to be able to have the same advantages that I had.”

“I am proud of what Pine Manor has become, and I know it has developed far beyond what Miss Cooke envisioned. However, I think that she would be pleased.”

Profile as published in the Winter 2004 Pine Manor College Bulletin.