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Clarence is the son of Allen Heckler Benner and Sevilla Nase Long. Clarence was born in Blooming Glen, PA., and his life history (obtained through personal interviews) has been documented at clbhistory.html
Clarence met Vi while they were both waiting in line at the Paramount movie theater in downtown Denver. Vi was standing with her cousin, and Clarence, the bold man that he was, stuck up a conversation with these "cute young ladies." Viola assumed Clarence was interested in her cousin, but actually Clarence "had his eye" on Vi. Clarence was in the Army stationed at Fitzsimmon Army Hospital at the time (see history link above). He and Vi got to know each other (dates to Washington Park), and eventually got married in Pennsylvania on 14 February 1948.
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Clarence and Vi lived in and around Quakertown in Bucks county until 1953, however, after Vi's many illnesses due to the humidity and molds, Clarence packed up his family (upon advise of their doctor) and moved out to the dry climate of Colorado. Clarence and Vi traded in their 1948 Jalopy and got a 1946 flatbed truck, packed it up, and headed west with their three boys. They stayed in the basement of Vi's sister Martha's house; and Clarence headed off to find a job. He worked out a deal to haul merchandise for U.S. Plywood, using his flatbed truck (until the new company could get a truck of their own). He then worked inside handling the orders, eventually working his way to foremen.
During this time the family moved to a new house at 1150 Yuba Street in Aurora, Colorado. The single-level house had a big back yard, which backed up against railroad tracks leading to Fitzsimmons, and beyond the tracks were 100+ acres of fields, cottonwood trees, Toll Gate creek and plenty of minnows, frogs, and crayfish (craw-dads) to add excitement to any kid's upbringing.
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Clarence kept a pile of 2x4s in the back yard, and kids being kids built a fort (learning the construction techniques from their tinker-toys). "As long as we climbed up the fort from the inside everything seemed to work fine", however, when Greg climbed the wall from the outside, the boards at the top had less weight holding them down, so they would easily pull out. "That's when we realized the importance of nails." So, they soon advanced to building tree-forts in the first-row-of-trees, and the safer snow forts abated by those big 1950's snowstorms.
Clarence and Vi, and especially the children (Gerry, Larry, Greg, and finally Corey), also enjoyed the many family outings - sledding, ice skating, hiking, fishing, and hunting.
In 1963, the family moved to Northglenn, Colorado. Clarence, no longer able to handle the jumping up and down stacks of plywood, took a job with Rio Grande Motorway until his retirement. His son Gerry also worked there during the summer of 1967. Vi primarily stayed home and raised her children, however, she did work when a financial need arose.
Clarence and Vi celebrated their 50th Wedding aniversary with many friends and relatives in attendance. They were very surprised and very, very appreciative of the gifts and well wishes they received.
For years they have been enjoying their grandchildren (well, maybe 95% of them; or is it 100% of them 80% of the time).
Their children's photos or additional web information are available in the following links.
The following are photographs of Clarence and Vi, and their family.
Clarence passed away in March, 2001. Here are a few pictures taken during the events that followed, and at the end of the services. Clarence was a caring man, who loved helping people. He did the best he could for his family, and he will be greatly missed.
In an effort to present a little bit of what Clarence sounded like, I have placed a video on two different video hosting sites. Feel free to view the video to remember a little bit about this good man.
The above video was taken in February, 2001 to allow us to remember a little bit more about Clarence Long Benner. He is buried in the mountains of New Mexico, where his family goes every summer to visit and remember. May God be with him until we meet again.
