Dr. Ann McClenahan

Dr. Ann McClenahan, 94, of Sioux Falls, South Dakota passed away on Monday, August 31, 2026, at Ava’s House Hospice in Sioux Falls. Graveside services are pending. She will be laid to rest next to her parents at Graceland Cemetery in Mitchell.

Ann was born April 17, 1932, to Harold and Beatrice (Wilber) McClenahan in Sioux City, Iowa. The family moved to Mitchell, where Dr. McClenahan graduated from Mitchell High School with the class of “Forty Niners” (1949). She then attended MacMurray College for Women as a Cartright scholar, later transferring to the University of South Dakota, receiving a BA degree in Psychology. In 1954, she married Samuel Douglas Sechser, and later worked as a secretary in his law office in Sioux Falls.

Following her divorce in 1969, she returned to school, receiving a Master of Education degree at South Dakota State University, and later, a Doctor of Education degree from the University of South Dakota – one of the first women in the state to do so. Dr. McClenahan taught kindergarten for seven years (Yankton and Sioux Falls); served an Elementary-Junior High Counselor at Brandon-Valley, and as a School Psychologist in northwest Iowa. In 1982, she established a private counseling practice in Sioux Falls.

Influenced by her own life experiences, she became interested in women’s issues, culminating in her award as a “Pioneer in the Psychology of Women” given by the National Association for Women in Psychology at their 40th anniversary conference for her contributions in teaching and research. Other honors have included Who’s Who in Child Development and Who’s Who in American Women.

She volunteered in several organizations concerned with the empowerment of women, including the Sioux Falls YWCA and the Mental Health Association of the Sioux Empire.

After researching the psychological abuse of women in South Dakota, she authored articles on women’s psychology. Her book chapter, entitled “A View from the Prairie”, was published in VOICES OF FEMINIST THERAPY, a supplemental text for use in counselor education courses.

She was a charter member of Chapter BY, PEO, and belonged to the Pi Beta Phi Alumnae Club, Panhellenic, and Daughters of the American Revolution. She was a life member of the American Psychological Association.

She was preceded in death by her parents, cousins, and extended family.