Clarence Louis Haverland

Clarence Louis Haverland was born March 1, 1925 in Oscar, TX to Emil and Mollie Haverland. His brothers are Emil Jr. (deceased), James (deceased), Ike, Gladys (deceased), Johnny (deceased), and sister Mollie and husband Jack. He is survived by his brother, Ike; sister, Mollie and sister-in-law, Dolores. He has three children, son Michael Louis Haverland and wife Tonya Haverland, daughter Suzanne Audine Haverland (deceased), and daughter Beatrice Bernice Hooper and husband John Hooper. He is also survived by six grandchildren, Shauna Allison and husband Nicholas Allison, Summer Haverland and husband Salvador Espinoza, Jessica Haverland, Halle Haverland, Rebecca Hooper and James Hooper. He is also survived by eleven great-grandchildren, Arielle, Barrett, J.J., David, Mikah, Samuel, Morgan, Eli, Nevaeh, Lilyahna, and Cecilya. He became interested in the subject of Geology as a young boy while in High School. He joined the Navy on August 25, 1942 at 17 years old, serving on the USS Enterprise CV-6, the most decorated ship in World War 2. When he left the Navy in January 1946, he began carpentry work with his brother Ike at Scott White Hospital in Belton, TX. This is where he met his future wife, Betty May Wainwright. It was love at first sight, and having the same birthday they frequently referred to each other by the nickname "Twin" although she was actually about 3 hours older than him. They were married in 1950 and had Michael in 1952, Suzanne in 1955, and Beatrice in 1957. He attended Baylor University for his Bachelor of Science degree in Geology, and graduated in May, 1954 while Betty worked as a nurse. He briefly went to work for an oil company in Texas and in 1956, he got a job in Albuquerque working for the US government at the US Soil and Water Conservation department. He worked there for the rest of his career until he retired in 1974. As a geologist, he helped to build many dams but some of his best work were the dams he didn't build. In Happy Valley, Carlsbad, he breeched a dam that would have ruptured during the next strong storm, thus saving the town below. In 1967, his son Michael was going to attend the 50 mile hike in Pecos Wilderness with his Boy Scout troop and Clarence didn't feel satisfied that only men could go on the 50 mile hike so he took his entire family. At the time, boy scouts only gave patches to men, so Clarence signed up his entire family, including his wife and daughters, under only initials ensuring everyone got a patch. His wife Betty, after a stroke following September 11, 2001, was placed in a nursing home for six years. He visited her twice a day, every day, until her death on March 22, 2007. He battled Lymph node Cancer, had a Quadruple Heart Bypass, and had an Abdominal Aortic Aneurism, all of which he beat and came back stronger from. At the time of his passing, he was fighting congestive heart failure. On January 28, 2015, he returned from grocery shopping and after bringing all the groceries inside, he sat down to relax and passed away peacefully. The next morning, when he failed to arrive for morning coffee with his best friend Allyne, she called 911. He was sitting in the living room fully dressed, jacket zipped, gloves in hand and Enterprise hat on head. On March 1 of 2015, he would have been 90 years old. Loving husband, father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, Clarence lived life to the fullest, is admired and respected by many, loved deeply by many, and passed away peacefully sitting in his favorite chair. Friends may visit FRENCH - Wyoming on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 from 6:00-8:00 p.m. Services will be held Thursday, February 5, 2015, 10:00 a.m., also at FRENCH - Wyoming. Interment will follow at Santa Fe National Cemetery at 12:45 p.m. FRENCH - Wyoming 7121 Wyoming Blvd. NE (505) 823-9400