| Sources |
- [S24] 1920 US Federal Census, (www.ancestry.com).
- [S25] 1930 US Federal Census, (www.ancestry.com).
Name: Bernard Claus Home in 1930: Summit, Monroe, Ohio Age: 10 Estimated Birth Year: abt 1920 Relation to Head of House: Son Father's Name: Roy Mother's Name: Anna Race: White
- [S927] Obituary.
T/Sgt. Bernard L. ?Sandy? Claus, 93, a native of Lewisville, Ohio, passed peacefully surrounded by family on May 1, 2013, in Missoula, MT, after suffering a stroke just days earlier. He was born on March 5, 1920, to Leroy Alfred Claus and Annie Magdaline Kilburn in Lewisville.
He was raised in Monroe County and attended schools in Lewisville. Following graduation from Lewisville High School in 1938, he worked on a local farm for $1 a day. In April of 1940, he enrolled in the Civilian Conservation Corps and spent the next five months at Camp 2528 in Three Creek, ID, near Twin Falls. In October of 1940, Sandy enrolled in the U.S. Army Air Corps and for the next year, he trained at Maxwell Field, AL, Jefferson Barracks, MO, and Chanute Field, IL. In the autumn of 1941, he was assigned to the 59th Bombardment Squadron in the Panama Canal Zone at Albrook, David and Howard Fields, crewing and maintaining A-20s. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor Sandy?s squadron spent the next several weeks patrolling the coastline of Central America. From 1942 to 1944, he served as a Technical Sergeant for B-25s on antisubmarine patrols in the Caribbean, spending time on the islands of Aruba, Curacao, and St. Lucia. Following his service in the Caribbean, he returned to the states and was honorably discharged from the Air Corps in September of 1945. Later in his life, it would take little encouragement for Sandy to regale his listeners with fascinating and memorable stories of his time in the Caribbean.
On September 29, 1945, Sandy married Lorna Mae Windhorst at St. Peter?s Lutheran church in Deshler, NE, where they made their home and worked for several years. In 1950-51, Sandy was recalled to the Air Force and served as a training instructor at the Great Falls Air Force Base in Montana. In 1953, he went to work for Boeing in Wichita, KS. The following year the family moved to Seattle, WA, where Sandy continued to work for Boeing until he retired in 1981.
Sandy and Lorna Mae raised their three children Rodney, Pamela and Debra in the Seattle area and during the next two decades built two homes and an airplane (Skybolt).
While at Boeing Sandy worked on a number of projects, including Boeing aircraft models 720, 747, and 737; special projects included the Boeing VC-137C/SAM 26000, which served as Air Force One for eight U.S. Presidents; the Boeing Lunar Lander; and the Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS). He was a lead inspector and well respected by his colleagues on the flight line. He was a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association.
When he wasn?t working, Sandy was putting his ?green thumb? to work around his home, which included meticulous attention to his rose garden. He was a sports fan and followed professional sports teams from Seattle and the University of Washington Huskies. He particularly enjoyed watching college softball, a game he played when he was younger.
Following his retirement Sandy traveled the United States and Canada. Thousands of miles, three vehicles, and 100s of KOA campgrounds later he had visited national parks from the Great Smoky Mountains to Crater Lake. Sandy loved warm weather and often spent the summer months hiking in the canyon lands of Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. He particularly enjoyed visiting cultural sites across the southwestern U.S., including Canyon de Chelly, Chaco Canyon, Mesa Verde, and Tuzigoot, to name a few. When he wasn?t hiking desert trails, he reveled in attending airshows from Oshkosh, WI to Red Deer, Alberta, and made several trips to the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta in New Mexico. He never missed an opportunity to visit an air museum. Years after he stopped traveling he loved to share stories of his travels and could by heart tell you highway numbers and when he visited them.
He was strong in his Lutheran faith his entire life and had fond memories of working with his church in Kent, WA, in the 1980s and 90s, where he served as a ?handyman.? He did projects for the church school where he was affectionately known as ?Mr. C.?
Sandy was buried next to his wife Lorna, with full military honors at Washington Memorial Park, Sea-Tac, WA, on Friday, May 10. His brother Floyd Claus, sister Elvira Stimpert, children, and many family members survive Sandy.
Sandy was a patriot, a man of faith, and a stickler for detail.
- [S8] Information from an informant - Auskunft eines Informanten - Information d'un informateur.
Proposed Change: Bernard L. Claus (I76636) Tree: Südpfalz / Southern Palatinate Link: http://www.birkenhoerdt.net/getperson.php?personID=I76636&tree=Suedpfalz Description: Buried: Washington Memorial Park, SeaTac, King County, Washington, USA Bernard is here; www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=121795754 Mariner's Knoll Genealogy USA
Mariner's Knoll Genealogy USA
- [S8] Information from an informant - Auskunft eines Informanten - Information d'un informateur.
Proposed Change: Leroy Alfred Claus (I61398) Tree: Südpfalz / Southern Palatinate Link: http://www.birkenhoerdt.net/getperson.php?personID=I61398&tree=Suedpfalz Description: Ohio marriages: https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/XZ3Z-VL9 claire rassman
claire rassman
- [S632] Ohio, County Marriages, 1774-1993, (www.ancestry.com).
Name: Leroy Alfred Claus
Titles and Terms:
Event Type: Marriage
Event Date: 01 Jan 1920
Event Place: Monroe, Ohio, United States
Event Place (Original):
Age: 27
Birth Year (Estimated): 1893
Birth Date:
Birthplace:
Father's Name: Fred Claus
Father's Titles and Terms:
Mother's Name: Caroline Haffner
Mother's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Name: Anna Magdalena Kilburn
Spouse's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Age: 24
Spouse's Birth Year (Estimated): 1896
Spouse's Birthplace:
Spouse's Father's Name: Henry Kilburn
Spouse's Father's Titles and Terms:
Spouse's Mother's Name: Katherine Kahrig
Spouse's Mother's Titles and Terms:
Reference ID: p 125
GS Film number: 2168424
Digital Folder Number: 004022887
Image Number: 00127
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1920 - 2013 (93 years)
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