Rae Ann McLennan

Rae Ann McLennan, 87, longtime resident of Santa Barbara, passed away peacefully on May 28, 2025 in her private care facility in Dallas, Texas.

Rae Ann was born in Los Angeles on June 5, 1937 to Evelyn and Ray Tanguay. She was raised alongside her older brother and 3 younger sisters in Southern Oregon. She was active in high school clubs and student government and graduated from St. Francis High School in Eugene in 1955. To pursue her interest in Catholicism after graduation, she became a postulant at Portland’s Novitiate of the Holy Names at Marylhurst. In 1960, while attending Marymount College in Los Angeles, Rae Ann met and married her devoted husband, Miles William “Bill” McLennan, a graduate of the California Institute of Technology. Shortly thereafter, Rae Ann and Bill moved to Santa Barbara to begin their life together and build a family.

Rae Ann was a loving wife and mother to her 3 children, Anne, Robin and Miles David. In the late 1970s, Rae Ann enrolled at UCSB where she earned her undergraduate and master’s degrees in the Sociology of Religion. During this period, she completed residencies at both Notre Dame and UC Berkeley. She continued her studies at UCSB as a PhD candidate where she collaborated to publish To Survive and Flourish: A Survival Guide for Graduate Women at UCSB in 1993.

Rae Ann was actively involved in local and religious organizations such as the Old Mission Santa Barbara, Teach for America, La Casa de Maria, and later the Church of the Beatitudes. Through her many years of study and community activism, Rae Ann had become a formidable religious historian and spirited social justice advocate.

Rae Ann enjoyed her life in Santa Barbara including long walks on Hendry’s Beach with her beloved dogs, Freuda and Max. Rae Ann and Bill remained very close and loving friends, despite their legal separation in 1987. Together in 2019, they moved from Santa Barbara to be closer to their daughter Robin and to enjoy the personalized service of a private care facility in Dallas.

‍Rae Ann is survived by her daughters, Anne and Robin McLennan and son, Miles David McLennan, as well as her 4 grandchildren Connor, Matthew, Ian, and Sophie. Rae Ann and Bill will return to Santa Barbara to be interred at Calvary Cemetery & Mausoleum on June 21, 2025.