Name: Homer Dean Clover Date: August 10, 1918 – June 18, 2011
Obituary: Homer D. Clover age 92, of Iron Mountain, MI passed away on Saturday June 18, 2011. He was born in Aurora, IL on August 10, 1918 to William Philip and Ada Elizabeth (Vaughan) Clover. His brothers Eugene Lewis (Rae Dean) Clover and Robert DeWitt (Vina Mae) Clover, sister Wilma Jane (Carl) Jones. Homer is preceded in death by his parents; brother Eugene and sister Wilma. Homer graduated from Glendale High School in California, and then proudly served 18 months in the United States Army Air Force during World War II. After serving, he moved to Wonder, Oregon and worked cutting down trees. From Oregon he went on to drafting school in Madison, WI, where he became an Architect. In 1956, he went to work as a Design Draftsman with the Midwestern University Research Association (MURA) in Madison, Wisconsin. In 1967, he went to work with the Los Alamos National Laboratory in Los Alamos, New Mexico. In 1969, he moved the family to Illinois to work at the newly formed National Accelerator Laboratory - Fermilab (See below). He retired from Fermilab as an Architectural Designer in 1986, after 17 years services. On August 31, 1957 he married the love of his life, Joan Muriel Harry and she survives. After retiring from Fermilab, he drove a school bus for a year, and then moved to Brevard, NC in 1987, where he and his wife lived for 18 years. They moved to Iron Mountain, Mich. in 2005 and lived at Victoria Pines Assisted Living. Homer is survived by his loving family, wife Joan; children Brian Dean (Gail) Clover, Ada Lynn (Frank) Brazeau, Kevin Alan Clover, Louise Marie (Eric) Parker; many grandchildren; great grandson; step-grandchildren and step-great-grandchildren. Homer was of the Baptist faith and was very active, serving as a choir director, deacon and Sunday school superintendent. While living in Iron Mountain, MI, he was a member of the Family Baptist Church in Kingsford, MI. A memorial service was held on July 16, 2011 at the Victorian Pines Assisted Living facility. Homer’s Pastor, Kevin J. Sullivan officiating. The family would like to thank Pastor Kevin J. Sullivan, the Family Baptist Church in Kingsford, MI, the staff at Victorian Pines, the doctors and nurses at the Dickinson County Hospital and Maryhill Manor of Niagara, WI for all there help and support. He is donating his remains to science research. Memorial Service July 16, 2011   “Homer Clover Was Here” On the event of his retirement from Fermilab, Homer Clover did some reminiscing for FermiNews: “On September 2, 1969, I arrived at the Lab to work for the late Will Hanson in the Booster Group as a designer. On May 18, 1970, I was reclassified to Senior Design Draftsman. On September 1, 1970, I was transferred to the Experimental Facilities to work under Wayne Nestander. “On August 1, 1971, I was transferred to the Neutrino Section. This called for a move from the Village to port-a-kamps by the white barns on the Neutrino Beamline. Having a part in beamlines development was quite an experience: having a cook-out once a week, using a porta-san through the cold of winter.
 “Then came the time for beneficial occupancy of the High Rise, and who was chosen? You guessed it. The Neutrino Group vacated the port-a-kamps for the second floor, west. It wasn’t easy, but Fred Moore made us as comfortable as he could. Cement floors, dust, construction still going on at the 10th-floor level. One consolation was that DUSAF was with us on the east side. “The next move was to the 12th floor, east. Quite a bit better, as the floors were finished and we had new furniture. “The next move was to the fifth floor, east on December 1, 1981, and to a new group called TEVATRON Construction. We saw a lot of activity take place what with all the new TEVATRON-related construction. A very interesting time. “Now, of course, our name changed again to the Civil Construction Group. In looking back, there are a lot of happy and memorable times. Seems to me someone should start class reunions for old times’ sake. “The wife and I have several things in mind for the future. First of all, getting our youngest daughter through high school. We will be around another two years for that. Then we head south, the Lord only knows just where; North Carolina, Tennessee, New Mexico to name a few possibilities. We are knocking on doors looking to see what will open up.” Wayne Nestander, Head of Construction Engineering Services, said, “Homer has been a very productive designer and illustrator for many Fermilab departments during the past 17 years. One finds dozens of drawings, graphs and illustrations in Fermilab publications that contain a very tiny “HC” and small oval that denote “Homer was here”. We will all miss his pleasant and cheerful outlook and we bid him well on his future endeavors in his retirement.” |