Background
McClendon was the son of the former Lurene Gray (1891–1978) and Judge Enos McClendon, Senior, (1889–1958) of Homer in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana.
McClendon was the son of the former Lurene Gray (1891–1978) and Judge Enos McClendon, Senior, (1889–1958) of Homer in Claiborne Parish in north Louisiana.
McClendon, Junior., graduated from Homer High School and procured his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws degrees from Tulane University and the Tulane University School of Law in New Orleans.
McClendon was based in Minden, the seat of Webster Parish in the northwestern portion of the state. The senior McClendon served on the Louisiana Second Circuit Court of Appeal from 1930 until his death in 1958. McClendon"s paternal grandparents were Enos H. McClendon (1849–1919) and the former Della Carr (1860–1927).
He served four years in the United States Army during World World War World War II Except for the time of his military service, he practiced law in Minden from 1940 to 1960.
Son Carr McClendon of Carlsbad, California, is married to the former Peggy Whaley of Minden, the daughter of the late Marjorie Bright Whaley and Bernard Crowell Whaley (1920-2015), a native of Columbia County, Arkansas. A decorated first lieutenant with the United States Army Air Forces, Bernard Whaley flew thirty bombing missions during World World War II over France and Germany, two on Doctorate-Day at Normandy.
He was subsequently the owner and operator for forty years of the Dairy Queen in Minden. McClendon was for several years the superintendent of the adult division of the First Baptist Church of Minden.
In 1958, he was elected to succeed the Minden attorney Graydon K. Kitchens, Senior, as president of the Webster Parish Bar Association, with later Judge Cecil C. Lowe as the association vice-president
He was active in the Boy Scouts of America, American Cancer Society, American Legion, and the Chamber of Commerce. McClendon practiced law for sixteen years prior to his election as judge. In the Democratic primary election held on July 23, 1960, McClendon defeated another Minden attorney R. Harmon Drew, Senior, for the newly established "Division B" judgeship McClendon received 6,107 votes to Drew"s 5,261.
The previous district judge prior to McClendon was James East. Bolin, who advanced to the Second Circuit Court of Appeal in Shreveport, where Harmon Drew, Junior., is a sitting judge.
In 1967, Judge McClendon was elected president of the Louisiana District Judges Association at the annual convention held in Biloxi, Mississippi. He retired from the bench effective December 31, 1978.
McClendon died at the age of eighty-five after a lengthy illness. Services were held at the First Baptist Church in Minden, with then pastor Wayne DuBose and former pastor Ronald Prince, and his successor on the bench, retired Judge Graydon K. Kitchens, Junior., officiating.
Judge McClendon"s obituary describes him, accordingly:
He invested his life in his family, friends, community, and church.
Judge McClendon served God faithfully.. giving wise counsel to countless people. His wit and humor were good medicine to those he encountered, even during his difficult months of illness. He has passed into eternity, but his life lives on through all who knew him.
