Marvin Durwood CLOPTON

CLOPTON, MANTZ, ANDREWS, DOCTOR, DOWNS, BRUNETTE, SHICK

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 9/20/2006 at 02:42:59

Marvin Durwood Clopton, 84, of Clarion, died Saturday, June 22, 2002 at Wright Medical Center in Clarion. Funeral services were held Wednesday, June 26th at the Clarion Church of Christ. Rev. Tim Platt officiated at the 10:30 a.m. service. Burial was in the Evergreen Cemetery, Clarion. Marvin Durwood Clopton was born February 8, 1918, the son of Wilford and Sarah Mantz Andrews in rural Churdan. His father died six weeks later and his mother later married Roscoe Clopton in September of 1921. The family moved to Clarion where Marvin attended school. After graduating from Clarion High School in 1936, Marvin operated a trucking business which Roscoe had started, until 1941. In June of 1939, Marvin went to work as a brakeman on the Chicago Great Western Railroad. In March of 1941, Marvin was inducted into the United States Army. He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in March of 1943 and was honorably discharged on January 17, 1946, after serving in a Tank Destroyer Battalion. On June 26, 1941, while in the service, Marvin was united in marriage to Phyllis Doctor of Belmond. To this union three children were born, Mitchell Dean (Mickey), Beverly K. and Debra Ann. Over the next four years the Cloptons moved from coast to coast serving their country. After being discharged from the Army, Marvin returned to Clarion and resumed his job with the Chicago Great Western Railroad and then the Chicago Northwestern as a brakeman/conductor. He retired in 1979 with 40 years of seniority. He was a member of the Clarion Church of Christ where he was baptized in 1929 at the age of 11, member of the Kum Join Us class and also a Sunday School teacher, trustee, deacon, elder, and Chairman of the Board. He was also a member of the American Legion since 1946 and the United Transportation Union, Lodge #329.

Surviving Marvin is his wife, Phyllis of Clarion; two daughters, Beverly Downs of Denison and Debra Brunette and husband, Brian of Buna, Texas; six grandchildren; one daughter-in-law, Jeanette Shick and husband, Larry of Denver, Colorado. He was preceded in death by his parents; son, Mitchell Dean Clopton; sister, Zatha; and one son-in-law, Tim Downs.

© Wright County Monitor 2002