Joseph Daniels Mcclees

Joseph Daniels McClees, age 77, of Oriental, North Carolina, died on Saturday, the 14th of May 2022.

Joe was born on 12 February 1945 to Joseph Manson McClees and Reba McLawhorn McClees in Oriental. He grew up hunting in the fields and woods around the family farm and fishing in the Neuse River with his first cousin William McClees.

After graduating from Atlantic Christian College in 1967, Joe taught school in Pamlico County and, later, at The Gill School in Richmond, VA. He farmed the family property long enough to appreciate how difficult farming can be.

From 1976 to 1986, Joe was employed by the State of NC in various positions, including Coastal Ambassador; Special Assistant to the Secretary of Natural Resources & Community Development; and Economic Development Officer for the NC Division of Marine Fisheries. The positions of Coastal Ambassador and Special Assistant to the Secretary included the handling of politically sensitive projects for the Secretary.

As Economic Development Officer in the NC Division of Marine Fisheries, Joe undertook and completed the first economic survey of NC’s commercial fishing industry; created an economic development shop within that agency to promote the NC commercial seafood industry; promoted and facilitated construction and development of 34 seafood processing operations in coastal NC; and developed new national and international markets for NC seafood products.

In 1986 and 1987, Joe served as Executive Director of the NC Fisheries Association, Inc., a commercial fishing and seafood dealer trade group.

In 1987, Joe began adding other clients and built the lobbying business ultimately known as McClees Consulting, Inc. He worked primarily in the NC General Assembly and the US Congress, but also in other southern legislatures.

Joe formed the Fisheries Development Foundation of NC to provide mariculture training for unemployed and underemployed commercial fishermen.

He represented a variety of businesses and trade groups during his 34-year lobbying career.

Joe was a life member of the National Rifle Association and lobbied for the NRA. He helped pass the first Concealed Carry Permit legislation in NC.

He enjoyed a series of hunting adventures, beginning with shooting his first squirrels at age eight. Joe grew up with bird dogs and an abundance of quail in the fields. He went on a month-long big game African Safari in 1986. He went bird hunting in England, Scotland, the Isle of Islay, and Slovakia. He shot wild turkeys in Texas, deer in Montana, wild birds in Hawaii, and doves in Argentina.

Joe retired from lobbying in 2021.

Joe and Susan Henri Johnson met on 27 September 1979 and married on 20 December 1980.

On 11 October 1985, Henri attended a legal conference where she was saved and baptized in the Holy Spirit. On Pentecost Sunday, 18 May 1986, Joe encountered the Holy Spirit in the Episcopal Cathedral in Memphis, TN. The Lord began transforming them individually and as a married couple. Joe and Henri accepted an invitation to visit Jerusalem for Christmas in 1989. Joe’s ten visits to Israel included a memorable one in May 2018, when he attended the dedication of the US Embassy in Jerusalem.

Joe traveled on Christian mission trips to India, Kenya, Uganda, the Philippines, and Indonesia. He encouraged Christian missionaries and gave generously to missions projects.

Surviving Joe are his wife, Henri; his first cousin, William Paul McClees, Jr., with wife Peggy and children Mike McClees, Tom McClees, and Valerie McClees Reed; the children and grandchildren of John Edward Grigg in Richmond, VA (Natalee Grigg Johnsrud, John E. Grigg, Jr., Sarah Grigg Mitchell, and Randy Grigg); as well as his extended family and an abundance of Christian brothers and sisters, friends, political allies, and fellow adventurers.

A Memorial Service will begin at 11:00 am on Saturday, 21 May 2022, at All Saints Anglican Church, 292 McCabe Road, Newport, NC 28570. The Committal Service will start at 4:00 pm on Saturday, 21 May 2022, at the Oriental Cemetery, Silverbrook Road, Oriental, NC 28571.

Memorials may be donated to All Saints Anglican Church in lieu of flowers.