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McLearn has lived in the village for more than half a century after moving from her Gramercy Park home in the 1940s. She has been an active member of the community, and has been outspoken in her opposition of big housing development in Bronxville.
“We selected Mildred for her tremendous zest for life, even at 101, and her contribution to the Bronxville community in mitigating the environmental impact of housing developments on Sagamore Road and Sunset Hill,” said Joyce Balint, president of the Bronxville Women’s Club.
McLearn was born in 1912 in Louisville, Ken. before attending the Sea Pines School for Personality in Cape Cod. Mass., and the Emma Willard School in Troy. She later went to Vassar College and married her husband, Frank, in Cleveland. The pair had two children, including Laura Strichter Bryson, who is a village real estate broker at Houlihan Lawrence.
According to Balint, the family was living in Gramercy Park in New York City when McLearn decided she preferred the suburbs. She allegedly jumped on the Harlem train line and discovered Bronxville by watching out the window and looking for the first nice community. The family moved around five neighborhoods before building their house on Prescott Avenue, where she still lives today.
McLearn has fought against the rezoning of Sagamore Road and the scaling down of both the Parkway and Kensington Road projects. She also was a proponent of downsizing condominium projects that were proposed for Sunset Hill.
Bronxville Mayor Mary Marvin celebrated McLearn’s 100th birthday with her last year.
“Mildred is the quintessential Bronxvillian, even at 99 [years old],” she said. “She often came to see me at Village Hall to share some history, impart an idea or express some concern about an initiative, all done in the spirit of love for her village.”
The Bronxville Women’s Club will celebrate McLearn at its Sept. 29 Woman of the Year Gala at The Clubhouse on Midland Avenue.
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