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Margo D. McClung

Date of Death: January 25, 2017
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Theresa Ann Johnson
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Joseph Marino Light a candle
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Service
Location Not Available
Friday 2/3, 11:00 am

Mount Hebron Cemetery Chapel
Winchester, Virginia

Cemetery
Mount Hebron Cemetery
305 E. Boscawen Street
Winchester, VA 22601
Friday 2/3

John King left a message on January 1, 2021:
I am sorry to learn of Margo McClung’s passing. Unfortunately, I had lost touch with the McClung’s and only just learned of her passing. I met Dr. and Margo McClung several years ago as the result of a series of events related to his service in WW2. In the spring of 2008 I attended a used book sale at a local Middle School in York PA. Each year people donate books to the Middle School library that are sold at the annual book sale. They fill the cafeteria and gym with tables full of books. On the first day of the sale the books are priced at $3 per book. On the second day the price drops to $2 per book. By the third day they are mostly interested in clearing out the leftovers and the price falls to $3 for a cardboard box full of books. I stopped in on the last day to see if I could find anything interesting. At $3 a box there is not much to lose. I found a couple of books that were interesting but still had room in my book box. I saw an old copy of “The Robe”. I opened it to the cover plate to check to see if it was an early edition. It turned out to be a 33rd impression with little or no value, however on the opposite page someone had written a personal inscription. The inscription contained the name of a US soldier serving in Europe during the later days of WW II. The inscription continued with his Serial Number and APO address ending with “for Christmas 1944 with much love from Mother”. My son was in the Army and was deployed to Iraq for nearly a year. Similarly, my son in law was in the Navy and was deployed at sea soon after he and my daughter were married. I have some appreciation for the importance of contact or a gift from home. On impulse I but the book in box paid the $3 and took my purchase home, but I continued to think about the book that was sent to that soldier so many years earlier. The soldier’s name was “Private A. Colin McClung”. I thought this was an unusual name so I looked it up on the internet. I found an article about a Dr. A. Colin McClung who was a professor of Agronomy that had received the World Food Prize in 2006. The match seemed like a long shot, but according to the article he was about the right age so I contacted the American Society of Agronomy to try to reach him. After convincing the representative that I was not a nut case they provided Dr. McClung’s contact information. I called Dr. McClung on the phone and told him that I had found a book that I thought might be his. He replied that books were very valuable to him and that he thought it unlikely that he had ever lost a book, but then corrected himself to say that he only ever recalled losing one book and that had been some years ago. When I asked if that book was a copy of “The Robe” he was speechless. As a last check I asked if he remembered his serial number which he easily recited from memory matching the inscription in the book. He asked what I wanted for the book but I told him that the book was his and my only interest was in returning it to him. Since it had been lost for so long I was afraid to send it in the mail, so I asked if we could meet and I could give it to him personally. It turned out that he lives in the Washington DC area and was driving near our house in a few weeks. We met for lunch at my home. Dr. McClung said he remembers the book arriving during the winter of 1944-45 when he was serving in Belgium. His unit was staying in the basement of a bombed out house in a small town. He had started to read the book, but the unit moved out. He packed it up with other supplies and never saw it again until I gave it back to him. We can only assume that one of the other soldiers kept it for him but was never able to return it. Probably a York PA area family cleaning out old books from another WW II veteran donated it to the middle school where I found it at the sale. “The Robe” it is a fictional story about what might have happened to the robe of Jesus after his crucifixion. The book is also a story about something that was lost being found and connections between people. The major difference is that this story is true. It was a great joy to be able to return the Christmas gift to Dr. McClung that his mother had thoughtfully sent to him so many years earlier. I would like to hear from the McClung family to make sure that they were aware of the full story related to the return of “The Robe”. John King 717 858 7052
Theresa Ann Johnson left a message on November 18, 2020:
I offer Margo's family my love, sympathy and prayers. I have fond memories of her, Dr. McClung, Jamie, and Mary. Much love, Terry Johnson
Joseph Marino left a message on October 17, 2020:
Margo and Collin, Were my buddy Mary's parents. I worked with Mary in the hotel world in NYC. She was like a sister to me. We laughed and cried and had wonderful times. Her parents treated me like a son. What beautiful memories always in my heart. If any family members please call me at 732 560 8518. Love to know how Jamie and his families are. To James Jr. Your Aunt was thrilled being an Aunt the day you where born. And her first nieces. Florie you where a wonderful daughter in law Margo loved.
Omps Funeral Home left a message:
Please accept our deepest condolences for your family's loss.
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