- Date Of Birth: October 25, 1918
- Date Of Death: March 13, 2015
- State: Idaho
James McLane passed away from old age on March 13 at age 96. He was born to Miles
and Hattie McLane in Sherwood, ND in 1918. He was known for most of his life as Pat. Pat grew
up in Sherwood and played football for the high school team. This grew into a lifelong love of
the sport and his favorite team would always be the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. He worked at the
his family moved to Santa Monica, CA in 1938.
came to CA with some girl friends and Pat and Enid were married in 1939. Pat began to look for
better work and soon found a job as an aircraft electrician for the Northrop Aircraft Company.
He worked on the P-61 “Black Widow.” Pat and Enid’s first three children Daniel, Penny, and
James, Jr. were born in the next few years.
At the start of World War II, Pat was able to obtain a defense worker deferral from the
military draft. However, by 1944 the need for soldiers became more critical and Pat was drafted
into the U.S. Army in September 1944. He became a heavy machine gunner in the 25th Infantry
involved in the battle of Balete Pass. After the Japanese surrender, his unit was assigned to guard
the Japanese treasury at a small hotel at the base of Mt. Fuji. Pat was honorably discharged from
the Army in January 1946. He was awarded the Combat Infantry Badge, Asiatic Pacific
Campaign Metal, Phillippines Liberation Medal with one bronze star, Good Conduct Medal,
World War II Victory Medal, and the Army of Occupation Medal.
Pat got his job with Northrop Aircraft Company back after his return. He attended night
classes to upgrade his aircraft qualifications. Working for the Northrop Corporation became his
lifelong career. He and Enid soon had a house of their own in West Los Angeles. Their son
Dennis was born there. Two years later, the family moved to Lancaster, CA where Northrop had
a contract to produce the F-89 “Scorpion.” In 1959, the family moved back to West Los Angeles
for one year because Pat had taken a job at the main Northrop factory in Hawthorne, CA. Pat and
Enid’s son Tim was born while living once again in West Los Angeles. Then the family moved
back to Lancaster, CA and Pat was involved in working on the T-38/F-5 aircraft.
In 1963, Pat once again was transferred to the Northrop factory in Hawthorne, CA. This
time rather than having to endure the constant moves, Pat moved his family to Saugus, CA which
was about half way between the two factories. The family was then able to stay in the same
home. His work was eventually moved back to the Lancaster area where he was again involved
in production of the T-38/F-5 and later in the initial stages of the B-2 stealth bomber. Pat
advanced in his career with Northrop rising into the production manager ranks of the company
until he retired in 1979.
Starting in the early 1950s, Pat and his family began making side trips to Stanley, ID where he
enjoyed fishing. Summer vacations to Stanley would be a family tradition for the next 5 decades.
After Pat’s retirement in 1979, he and Enid actualized their dream of living in Idaho and they
built a cabin home in Garden Valley, ID. They lived there from 1979 until 1991. In 1991, they
moved into Boise and later Meridian. Enid passed away in 2006 and Pat lived on his own until
2010 when he moved to Spring Creek Assisted Living on McMillan in Boise.
Pat is pre-deceased by his wife, his parents, his siblings, and his oldest son Daniel. He is
survived by his children, Penny (Joe) Mortimore of Huntington Beach, CA, James (Susan)
McLane of Temecula, CA, Dennis (Jeanne) McLane of Boise, ID, and Tim (Sharon) McLane of
Slidell, LA, 10 grandchildren, and 23 great-grandchildren and 6 nieces and nephews.
wishes to thank the care-givers at Spring Creek Assisted Living on McMillan and Journey’s
Hospice.
