Obituary of Clarence Helton, Butler County, KSGenWeb Digital Library

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EL DORADO TIMES, 14 March 2000

Obituary of CLARENCE HELTON

Clarence Helton, 80, of Tonkawa, Okla. died Thursday, March 2, 2000 at St. Joseph Medical Center in Ponca City, Okla. Services were held Monday, March 6, at the United Methodist Church with interment at the IOOF Cemetery in Tonkawa.

He was born Sept. 23, 1919, along with his twin, in Morristown, to William Jonas and Minnie Alice (Cullip) Helton. When he was six months old the family moved to Missouri and then to Kansas. He attended grade school at Pleasant Center, a Butler County rural school. He graduated from high school in Potwin.

He married Marilee Moore of Potwin July 12, 1947 in El Dorado. She survives.

He worked for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, Calif. and Tulsa, Okla. before entering the U.S. Air Force during World War II.

After discharge, he was a civilian employee at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma City from 1947 to 1955. He owned and operated DairyLand Drive-In in Tonkawa from 1955 to 1965 and later marketed slush machines in the western United States and abroad from 1965 until his retirement in 1991. He continued to do refrigeration work even during his retirement.

Flying was an important part of his life for more than 40 years and for much of that time he owned his own plane. He enjoyed fishing for crappie and was a
lifelong quail hunter, always keeping a pair of English Setter dogs. He enjoyed trapshooting for many years, winning the Oklahoma Rookie of the Year title in
1960, as well as many other trophies at registered shoots in Oklahoma and Kansas.

He served on the Board of Directors of the Service Bank of Tonkawa from 1968 to 1978. He also served on the Board of Directors of the Blackwell-Tonkawa Airport Trust for 10 years, acting as treasurer for most of that time. He was a member of the American Legion and the Tonkawa Chamber of Commerce.

In addition to his wife, he is survived by his twin brother, Clifford of Oklahoma City; another brother, Marion of Fort Dodge; and a sister, Beulah Diller of El Dorado.

He was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Ellis and Henry; and two sisters, Minnie and Mary Virginia.

Memorial have been established with the United Methodist Church, Tonkawa and the American Cancer Society.

Transcribed and Contributed by Jan Reading

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