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Luce, Clarence A. 1847-1925

LUCE, DICKENS

Posted By: Chuck Runneberg (email)
Date: 6/3/2007 at 21:42:38

North Iowa Times Jan. 1926

OBITUARY
CLARENCE A. LUCE McGregor,
Iowa, died December 30, 1925. Funeral January 3rd, 1926. Conducted by Masonic Order.

Clarence A. Luce was born among the green hills of Lamoille County, Vermont, May 27th, 1847. Both parents, his father Harvey and his mother, Mary A., were natives of Vermont, descendants of those earliest New Englanders whose sterling quallties running through our national life from its beginnings have been the element of stability which carries the Nation through every crisis without disaster.

Like his forebears, Mr. Luce, or "C. A." as his closer associates called him, was a pioneer. In 1855, when he was eight years of age, the family moved to Allamakee County, Iowa, to hew out a home in the virgin timber of the Mississippi bluffs. In common with pioneer boys and girls of his time, the district school, singing and writing school in the long winters, formed the basis of the splendid education which Mr. Luce continued to acquire through - out his life.

At the age of nineteen he answered the call of the Mississippi. The romantic era of lumber traffic was at its height, and to the virile youth of that day offered adventure, travel and profit. As a raftsman, therefor, piloting lumber down the river from the pineries of the north, sometimes as far as St. Louis, Missouri, for the next six years he followed the river, and here undoubtedly was the seed of adventure, that later took him west.

In 1872, he was united in marriage to Miss Harriet E. Dickens, of Clayton County, Iowa, second daughter of Edward and Ann Drusill, who were among the oldest pioneers of North - eastern Iowa, having come into the county in 1836. This union marked the beginning of an ideal companionship and tranquil ordered home life that continued till his death. The custom he established early in their married life of reading aloud in the evening has kept Mr. and Mrs. Luce in a mutual grasp of all phases of National and international affairs, in which he took a lively interest up to his last days.

In the spring following his marriage he started a business of his own in the shadow of hanging rock, at what was then called "red House Landing," later known as York's Landing, a few miles north of McGregor. Here he did an extensive business in fuel, wood, supplying various river craft which at that time burned wood, preferably oak and maple, which the hills along the Mississippi at that time were covered. He retained most vived and accurate memories of this period in the river's history and was a most interesting recounteur on the subject.

In 1887 he went pioneering on the plains of Nebraska, aquiring a drug store at Republican City, Nebraska, before the railroad came through. It was in these early days that he established himself in the political life of his county, and added to his rich store of experiences, that of a county seat fight, so typical of those times. He was active politically, but not as an office seeker although his county sent him to Lincoln as a representative in the state legislature in 1885, and the district sent him as a senator in 1905 and again in 1907. During each of these sessions, the high esteem in which he was held is shown by the important committees on which he served. He has acted as a delegate in several national Republican conventions. But most appreciated of all by his fellow citizens, has been his untiring effective work in civic affairs, both in Republican City where he lived for 40 years, and in McGregor since 1917, when he retired from active business life to return to the river and the wooded hills, which have given so much pleasure to his last years.

Not only has Mr. Luce been active in and a constant student of politics, but fraternal orders have formed a part of his interest. He is a 33rd degree Mason and a Past Grand Master, also a member of the I. O. O. F.

His taste for travel established during his rafting days has been indulged for many years. With Mrs. Luce, who has been his close companion even on his political pilgrimages, he has followed the patriotic injunction "See America First" and visited every part of his Country, only once leaving her shores for a stay in Cuba during the past winter.

C. A. Luce will be missed by a host of friends. As he has expressed it himself he has lived a long and successful life, forming firm friendships and commanding respect and affection in every business, political or social circle into which he entered. Whether or not he had ever heard John D. Rockefeller's definition for success, "never leave anything undone that you know should be done," he surely ordered his life, along that line. He has been conscientious and thorough in everything to which he has set himself through his whole life, a man whose word not readily given was when passed as good as a bond. In this last fast moving half century, that man who still keeping his outlook broad, so directed his activities as to stand in the thought of his contemporaries as a man of dependability in every contact of life, has made himself a place that can not be filled. Such a place has C. A. Luce left in the hearts and thoughts of his host of friends and acquaintances.

Mr Luce is survived by his wife and two brothers, Harvey L., and Philemon B..

The funeral services were held Sunday afternoon in the Congregational Church, Rev. Franklin Parsons, Pastor, officiating. The Masonic Order had charge of the burial at the Cemetery. Out of town friends who attended the funeral were: George B. Luce and wife of Rochester, Minn.; Milton Luce and wife , Hays, Kansas; L. M. Flagg, wife and daughter of Dubuque, Iowa; R.R. Dickens of Lulalip, Washington.

CARD OF THANKS

To those who extended their sympathy and kindness in our hour of bereavement and sorrow, we wish to express our heartfelt apprediation. The beautiful flowers, the music, the thoughtful attention to all details will live in out memories for all time.

MRS. C. A. LUCE,

AND RELATIVES


 

Clayton Obituaries maintained by Sharyl Ferrall.
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