Clarence Hovie was born in Thief River Falls, MN, November 9, 1911 to Gilbert and Ellen Hovie. Gilbert was from Norway and Ellen was from Sweden. Clarence was the youngest child with a sister named Edna and two brothers; Carl and Conrad. Clarence was the last to leave the farm after his father passed away and took his mother with him to California in the mid thirties.

He began working at Lockheed when they were building their 100th metal airplane and continued working for them for 38 years. Clarence was an inspector and was very respected by his peers. While working on the P-38 he inspected a young lady from Iowa named Vera Lowe. They fell in love and were soon married. They had a daughter named Nora and two sons; Frank and James. Clarence spent a lot of time with his children, reading them stories and doing things with them. Every year he took them on a long vacation and showed them the country. He gave his kids all the skills they needed to leave home and succeed. Nora received an masters degree from UCLA and works for Social Security. Frank is a Regional Sales Manager for a fortune 500 company and Jim is a missionary and pharmacist in Austria.

Clarence retired in the mid seventies and developed a very nice little garden in his yard. In the mid eighties, he suffered his first heart attack and two strokes. He recovered reasonably well from them and continued to enjoy a good quality of life until just before his 90th birthday when his health began to decline. Six months later he passed away on Friday, April 12th, 2002 at around 7:00 in the evening. Clarence is survived by his wife, Vera, his daughter, Nora, his sons Frank and Jim, 10 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren.

Clarence was a man of blessing. His lifestyle was a model of integrity and honor. He was friendly and easy to talk to. He was a good manager of his resources and took good care of his family. He was a spiritual man, receiving Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior in the early seventies. He always took us to church and taught us to respect others. He was an excellent father always encouraging his children. He always made me feel that I could do anything I put my mind to do and he always told me how proud he was of me and my brother and sister. When I would visit, he was always interested in all that I was doing and always took me into his garden to show me how bright and pretty his flowers were.

Genesis 27:27-29 And he came near and kissed him (Jacob coming near his father for his fathers blessing); and he smelled the smell of his clothing, and blessed him and said: "Surely the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. Therefore may God give you of the dew of heaven, of the fatness of the earth and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. Be master over your brethren and let your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be anyone who curses you and blessed be those who bless you."

I always knew my father was delighted to have me near him. My dad modeled the desires of my heavenly Father to me in this regard. He gave me the skills to succeed and the self confidence to do it. These are like spiritual gifts to me in my life. Dad modeled the kind of servant hood that Jesus did and I have been richly blessed in life because of his blessings to me and I thank God for letting me have him for so long. I know that when I go to be with the Lord, I will be met at the gate by a gentle young man who will ask me with a twinkle in his eye; "hey, you have got to come over here and see my garden." It is then that I will know that I have come home.

In memory of Clarence Hovie 4-16-2002