Page 8 - Robeson Living Winter 2021

Pictured above: Hector MacLean and Lyl Warwick at
Davidson College

Pictured right: Hector MacLean shows scrapbook of his
father during his term as NC Governor to grandchild
MacLean and Neal Clinard

he attained the rank of Captain and received a Bronze Star. He was founding chairman of the Robeson County Historical
He received an LL.B/J.D. from the UNC School of Law in Drama Association which produced the outdoor drama “Strike
1948, he returned to his beloved hometown beginning his law at the Wind”; chairman of the Robeson County Bicentennial
practice and the next year was elected mayor of Lumberton. Commission; and oversaw the restoration of the Carolina Civic
He went on to serve Robeson County as a Senator 1961-1971 Center and the 1795 Mill Prong Plantation. He founded the
during this time he was instrumental in the establishment of Robeson County History Museum that serves as a living and
Pembroke State College as a state University and the creation tangible reminder of his love for our county’s history. Ma-
of the North Carolina Zoo. cLean died peacefully at his home on Pearl Harbor Day, De-
cember 7, 2012.
He joined the National Bank of Lumberton (founded by his
father in 1897) in 1952 and was elected its president in 1955; Lyl Warwick McLean was active in the community leading
during his thirty-five years of leadership, he over saw the fundraising efforts and chairing numerous committees includ-
growth from one location and $11.1 million in assets to a $3.4 ing the American Cancer Society. She cherished the memories
billion corporation with 149 banking offices throughout the of her ancestors and was a member of The Huguenot Society
Carolinas. The name was changed to Southern National Bank of Charleston, S.C. and the Daughters of the American Revolu-
and was the sixth-largest bank holding company in North Car- tion. She passed at her home on April 11, 1997.
olina and the fifth largest in South Carolina.
The MacLean’s daughter Lyl MacLean Clinard, has followed
MacLean lived history his entire life growing up meeting fig- the paths set by her family with her love of history and serving
ures like Orville Wright, Amelia Earhart and Charles Lind- the community. She was Chairman of the North Carolina His-
bergh was well as attending events like the unveiling of the tory Museum Foundation and led the effort to establish their
North Carolina Monument at Gettysburg Battlefield and the endowment. On March 20, 2014, she accepted a reproduction
Wright Brother’s Monument at Kitty Hawk. He was proud of the Wright Brothers glider to be suspend it above the lobby
of our history and spent a great part of his life working to of the NC History Museum. It was made possible through a
preserve the history of Robeson County and North Carolina. $150,000 grant by the local First Flight Foundation. Also, on
Page 7 Page 8 Robeson Living ~ Winter 2021