It is with profound sadness and heavy hearts that the McClendon Family announces the passing of Spring C. McClendon, who left us on January 3rd, 2026.

Spring was born in Camden, South Carolina, and raised in Connecticut; she graduated from Central Connecticut State College in New Britain with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. Spring moved to New York in the mid-1980s to advance her professional career.

Together with her late husband, James Mitchell, she was an active member of the Bedford-Stuyvesant community. Spring was a founding member of The Cooperative Cultural Collective; since 2001, she was the key force behind the Fort Greene Brooklyn Juneteenth Arts Festival, established many years before Juneteenth became a national holiday.

Spring was also an accomplished insurance expert with over 45 years of success in the insurance industry, including direct support to clients through extensive claims management, consulting, and technical advisory services. She brought her expertise to the community she loved by opening and managing insurance businesses in Brooklyn, first on Fulton Street and later on Atlantic Avenue. Spring was hyper-focused on assisting people of color to secure and maintain their hard-earned assets and pass their legacies to the next generation.

Spring was a collector of art by African American artists and a passionate supporter of local African American artists. All who had the joy and fortune to know her will forever remember her sense of style, grace, dignity, and kindness.

Spring favored Afrocentric style and colors; the Family invites all those who plan to attend the funeral service to honor her by wearing bright colors.
Services will be held on Jan. 17, 2026, 1pm at Mt. Sinai Baptist Church, 241-45 Gates Ave, Brooklyn NY. Please wear colorful and/or Afrocentric Attire.