John Aycock McLendon passed away peacefully under hospice care and surrounded by family on February 22, 2024, at the age of 91. He was a resident of the Galloway Ridge retirement community at Fearrington Village, located between Chapel Hill and Pittsboro, North Carolina.
He was born on January 30, 1933, in Durham, North Carolina, to the late Major Lennox Polk McLendon and Mary Lily Aycock McLendon. He attended elementary and middle school in Greensboro, North Carolina, and graduated from the Baylor School in Chattanooga, Tennessee. He received his undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1954, and served in the U.S. Army from 1954 to 1956.
McLendon married Barbara Lee Whittington of Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1957. They moved to Boston, Massachusetts, where he attended Harvard Business School and received his Master of Business Administration degree in 1959.
He worked for Burlington Industries, a textile company, in Greensboro, North Carolina, and New York City from 1959 to 1975, including serving as chief financial officer. He worked for Insilco Corporation (formerly International Silver Company) in Meriden, Connecticut, from 1976 to 1988, serving as executive vice president and chief operating officer. He served as chair of the board of Nationwide Homes, a modular home builder in Martinsville, Virginia, from 1989 to 1998.
McLendon also served on the boards of directors of Okay Industries, a manufacturer of precision metal parts in New Britain, Connecticut, and Mother Murphy’s Laboratories, a manufacturer of food and beverage flavors in Greensboro, North Carolina.
He was active in many civic and charitable organizations, including the Jaycees and Rotary Club in several locations, and Mad River Valley Chamber of Commerce. He also served on the boards of directors of Rock Point School and the Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation, both in Burlington, Vermont.
“Mac” enjoyed alpine and cross-country skiing, swimming, and boating, and being around children and animals. He was a kind and generous man who loved spending time with family and friends skiing at Mad River Glen in the Green Mountains and summers at Seymour Lake in northeastern Vermont. After retiring from full-time work in business, he and Barbara lived on a farm in Warren, Vermont. They later moved back to the Chapel Hill area.
McLendon was preceded in death by his wife, Barbara Lee Whittington McLendon; by one son, Mark Whittington McLendon; by his sister, Mary Louise Atkinson Wall; and by two brothers, Lennox Polk McLendon Jr., and Charles Aycock McLendon.
He is survived by one son, John Aycock McLendon Jr. and wife, Constance Louise McLendon; by his daughter, Lee Whiting McLendon and partner, James Manderson Barker; and by one brother, William Woodard McLendon and wife, Anne Whittington McLendon. He is also survived by four grandchildren, Mary Elizabeth McLendon and partner, Lauren Q.; Lee Anne McLendon Woomert and husband, James Masten Woomert; Stephen Robert Delk; and Elizabeth Jeanette Delk; and three great-grandchildren, Evelyn Rose Woomert, Juliet Grace Woomert, and Olivia Louise Delk.
A memorial service will be held at a future date. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to North Carolina Arts in Action, P.O. Box 51277, Durham, NC 27717; or Vermont Children’s Trust Foundation, 95 St. Paul Street, Suite 330, Burlington, VT 05401.
