Walter H. Clausson

Walter Howard Clausson, aka Pop, Walt, Pop Pop, and/or Uncle Howard, was born January 5, 1930 in Beaver Falls, PA, the 9th child of William Allen and Ethel Mae Moon Clausson. The son of a farmer and mechanic, with eight other siblings Walt’s childhood was very humble. He remembered wearing burlap potato sacks for clothing and kicking the snow off the bottom of the bed, that came through the slats of the wall on cold wintry nights on the Pennsylvania farm where they lived. Despite their meager lifestyle, there was lots of love and Pop said he never knew they were poor.

Pop wanted to join the service and fight in WWII with his brothers, but he was too young to enlist. When the Korean War began, Pop was only 17, still too young to enlist, so he falsified his age, and on April 23, 1947, he was sworn into the United States Army. When his mother found out, she was going to report him for being underage, but he told her how well he was doing, and how important it was to him to support the country, and that he was going to church every Sunday. That sold her and she finally agreed. Pop served in the Korean war as a medic and in Tres, Italy. He was proud of his time in service but tortured by memories of the war in his later years.

His time in service brought him to Washington, DC, where he met a fun group of friends, among them, a young, pretty lady named Doris “Eileen” Davis. He was 21 and she was 17, but their attraction was strong and within a few months, they ran off and eloped on January 1, 1952. They started their family very quickly, and the first of their four children, Drenda was born almost a year later, in 1952, Steven in 1954, Wade in 1956 and Laurie in 1962. They bought a house in Woodbridge, Va in 1959, where they lived for 37 years. Walt worked many jobs doing mechanical work, maintenance work and owned a restaurant in Crystal City during the 1970s, called Paul’s Colonial Inn. He worked as the building engineer at Watergate for a few years, before becoming the Chief of Maintenance at the Kennedy Center, from where he retired in 1994, after 20 years of service. In 1996, Walt and Eileen sold their house and bought a motorhome to do some travelling around the country, and became snowbirds in Myrtle Beach, SC where they made many friends and found their beloved Pepe, a small Yorkie, who they often referred to as their 5th child. After retirement, Walt and Eileen bought a small lot at a campground called Four Winds Golf and Campground Resort, where they made many friends and had 25 years of great fun and memories.

Pop was a loving grandfather to 14 grandchildren and 21 great grandchildren. He had so many friends and was quickly loved soon after meeting strangers and acquaintances, as well as his many, many friends with his kind, gentle generosity, quick wit, and mischievous sense of humor.

He will be dearly missed and is survived by his wife Eileen, of nearly 70 years, and his children Drenda (Alvin), Steven (Cheryl), Wade (Michele) and Laurie, grandchildren Shawn (Adelle), Nicole, Shayne (Marta), Brian (Janene), Lora (Michael), Ashleigh, Zach, Jamie (PJ), Keith, Michael, (Stephany), Christopher (Elizabeth), Ryan and Steven and great grandchildren Alex, Anthony, Jennifer, Pete, Autumn, Grace, Sean, Noah, James, William, Devin, Daisha, Shannon, MJ, Joshua, Hazel, Haileigh, Evelyn, Hadley, Judah and Gavin, his brother Glenn, sister Dolores Ryan, many nieces and nephews and many friends, among them, dear friends Wendell and Betty Laney. He was preceded in death by his parents, and siblings Edwin, Catie, Ruth, Jean, Bob and George and grandchild Stefanie Buckingham.

Friends and family will be received at VFW Post 7916 on April 24th. Please contact the family for details.

In lieu of flowers, donations to St. Jude’s Hospital would be appreciated.