Clarence DeLawyer peacefully passed away on June 16 at his son, David's home in Deer River, MN at the age of 98.

Clarence D. DeLawyer was born to John and Bertha DeLawyer on March 9, 1921, in a rural farmhouse near Grettinger, IA. He was the first of their three children. The family moved to the Deronda area in 1932 during the Great Depression. Clarence went to the two-room schoolhouse in Deronda which is still standing today. He attended and graduated from Amery High School.

His first job was helping his folks run the Garfield Township Park on Lake Wapogasset where he and his father built 20 wooden rowboats by hand to rent for 50 cents per day. A tornado in the summer of 1942 destroyed everything in the park. So, in 1943, he and his mother bought the Deronda Store while his father was working on the Alaskan Highway. He became one of the youngest Postmasters in Wisconsin at the age of 22. Not long after that, he enlisted in the Army to serve in WWII. With his Postmaster experience he was commissioned to become the company clerk, responsible to keep all records for 200 soldiers while serving in France and eventually Germany.

In 1947, his best friend set him up on a blind date with a new school teacher at the Deronda School. She was Bonnie Skidmore and became his loving wife on June 8, 1948. They were married for 63 wonderful years. Clarence took over the store when his father started the Deronda Auto Salvage and ran the store until his father retired in 1958 and Clarence then ran the Deronda Store and Deronda Auto Salvage and also built a new house doing almost everything by himself. In 1962, he sold the store to his former grade school teacher and her husband, and also sold the Deronda Auto Salvage which became the Amery Auto Salvage. He then took the Route 1 rural mail carrier job in Amery, WI. He carried mail until 1976 when he retired. But he was not going to take it easy though, because he had bought a 320-acre farm in 1972 near Hertel, WI which was very close to where his wife, Bonnie was born and raised. They decided they couldn't part with their home in Deronda so they spent many years and miles of commuting between Deronda and the farm. When they could no longer make the numerous trips of keeping up both places, their oldest son, Tim, built his home on the farm.

Clarence loved baseball and he pitched his first high school baseball game in a pair of bib overalls because they couldn't find a uniform big enough for his 6'4" frame. He not only pitched a shutout but a no hitter as the "farmboy". He coached his sons' 4-H softball team, the Little Falls Livewires for many successful years. He was a very active member of the Deronda Lutheran Church for many years, treasurer for the Deronda Cemetery, and mowed the Church grounds for many years. He was a life-long member of the Amery VFW and long-time member of the Wisconsin Rural Mail Carriers Association.

He loved deer hunting and was featured in the Duluth News Tribune in 2014 for his 81 consecutive years of deer hunting in Wisconsin. In his retirement years his most beloved time was being on his farm and spending timewith his family.

He is survived by his son, David of Deer River and his daughter-in-law, Trudy of Shell Lake. He has five

grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren, who he loved with his whole heart. He is preceded in death by his wife, Bonnie; son, Tim; daughter-in-law, Charlene; brother, Robert and sister, Caroline.

A memorial service will be held on Friday June 28 at Deronda Lutheran Church. Visitation will be from 10 am – 11 am, one hour prior to the funeral at 11 am with a military burial following in the Deronda Cemetery, with lunch to follow.

Memorials will be directed to the Deronda Lutheran Church where Clarence has been a member since 1934.