Two men, one name: Tumwater City Council member says man’s death caused confusion

Neil Attwood McClanahan, 67, is a member of the Tumwater City Council running for reelection this fall. So it may have been confusing for some voters to hear that Neil McClanahan had died.

Neil Arthur McClanahan, 79, of Olympia, died Aug. 21, according to his obituary that ran in Wednesday’s Olympian.

“I’m getting calls and queries as far as whether I’m alive or dead,” said the candidate. “No, Neil McClanahan, the Tumwater City Council member, is very much alive and living in Tumwater.”

Neil Arthur McClanahan was an Air Force veteran who worked as a powerhouse operator in Alaska and later at the Rocky Reach Dam near Wenatchee before returning to his hometown of Olympia, according to his son, Doug McClanahan.

The other Neil is a retired Thurston County undersheriff who joined the Tumwater City Council in 2004. The two had run into each other over the years and occasionally exchanged mail they’d received for the other.

Doug McClanahan said he anticipated some confusion, opting to spell out his father’s middle name in the obituary.

Challenging McClanahan for Tumwater’s Position No. 7 seat in the Nov. 5 general election is Charles Schneider, a retired U.S. Postal Service worker and first-time candidate.

This story was originally published September 6, 2019 at 6:00 AM.