McCanliss - Lee
Source: Crawfordsville Journal Review 24 Aug 1968 p 1 typed by Walt W
Lee McCanliss, 85, longtime Wabash College trustee and one of the most generous benefactors of the institution through the years, died Friday morning at New York Hospital in New York City following a brief illness. He was senior partner in the New York City law firm of McCanliss & Early. A native of Rockville, he was born there July 20, 1883, the son of Samuel M. and Sarah Frances Neet McCanliss. He was reared there and graduated from Rockville High School. He received his bachelor's degree from Wabash College in 1907, earning Phi Beta Kappa honors. He went on to obtain his master's degree from Columbia University in 1910. The same year he earned his law degree from Columbia University School of Law and was admitted to the New York Bar Association. He became a member of the Wabash College Board of Trustees in 1926 and was elected chairman of the board in 1940. He held this position until 1955. At this time he retired to honorary member of the board, a position he still held at the time of his death. He received an honorary doctorate of law degree from Wabash in 1941. During his 42 years of association with the college as a trustee he was a major benefactor to the school. His most recent contribution was as initiator and principal donor to the gymnasium expansion program just completed last year. He founded the Sarah F. McCanliss Scholarship Fund for Parke County students in honor of his mother. After assuming his duties as chairman of the Wabash board of trustees, McCanliss was instrumental in the selection of Dr. Frank H. Sparks as president of the college. The two men worked closely together and their terms were almost concurrent. When McCanliss retired, Dr. Sparks wrote him a letter commending his service to the college. An excerpt from the letter reads, "We were interested in the same thing — a revitalized, stronger Wabash. We readily agreed upon the program of procedure and our working alliance was quickly and firmly established. It lasted for more than 14 years. I have never had a relationship with a colleague I valued more highly. No encroachment on your time was ever too great, no problem too trivial or too burdensome to receive your immediate and total attention and no financial involvement ever discouraged you." While McCanliss served the college as chairman of the board, the endowment of the institution doubled. Also during this time the value of the plant quadrupled with the construction of Waugh Hall for biological science, Morris and Wolcott dormitories and the Campus Center. During his undergraduate days at Wabash, Mr. McCanliss was a track man and continued his interest in this sport throughout his life. He was a member of the track, gymnastics and wrestling teams at Columbia University and from 1912 to 1915 was a member of the New York Athletic Club's national amateur championship gymnastic team. He was a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He retained his membership in the New York Athletic Club and was also a member of the Sleepy Hollow Country Club and the University Club of Washington. D.C. He was a member of the St. Paul and St. Andrew Methodist Episcopal Church in New York City. He was preceded in death by an older brother, Neet McCanliss in 1961. Surviving are two sisters, Mrs. Sylvia Rohm of Rockville and Mrs. Ethel Hornaday of Indianapolis, and a niece, Mrs. Frank Frisselle. Funeral arrangements are pending.