Alpheus Eugene Clonts January 10 1912 - April 26 1994 Last photo of my dad 1994 Alpheus Eugene Clonts was born in Joplin, Missouri on Jan. 10, 1912. He was the youngest of two boys born to Arthur Brocket Clonts and Grace Mary Turner Clonts. Grace was one of the Harvey Girls. When Al was 4 years old his mother was taken to a sanitarium for turberculosis. He never saw her again. She died when he was 8 years old. His dad remarried and the step mother did not want the boys so they were put on an orphan train and sent to St. Louis to find families. Eventually they were able to live with an Aunt, but they were mistreated and ran away. Als older brother, Arthur, JR. went back to Joplin, but Al refused and lived on the streets scavenging for food until he was old enough to work and get a place. He joined the US Navy and became an arial photographer. He was on the USS St. Lo when it was sunk in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He floated in the water until he was rescued by the USS Butler. He received the Purple Heart. After he left the Navy he worked for the St. Louis Post Dispatch Newspaper and then went to work for Reynolds Metals Company in Richmond, Va where he met Frances Lawson Thurston who was a secretary there. They were married on April 9, 1955. He went back to school at University of Missouri at Rolla where he became a chemist consultant. They then moved to Belpre, Ohio across the Ohio River from Parkersburg, West Virginia. He was elected to the City Council. In 1961 they adopted a baby girl and named her Marigrace. I am that baby. We then moved to Richmond, Virginia where my dad built a machine out of scrap metal and started his own business. He finally sold it to Northern Engraving Co. and we moved to Wisconsin in 1978. They bought a small house out in the country where he could have his animals and he lived there the remainder of his life. On April 25, 1994, he became very ill and was taken to the hospital. In spite of 2 surgeries to repair a ruptured anurysm in his abdominal aorta, he passed away on April 26, 1994 at 5:26pm. He never forgot the men who were lost that dreadful day when his ship was sunk in WWII. He often told the story and you could see the pain in his eyes. He was a wonderful dad and his greatest legacy is his love for all animals great and small. I can not even remember all the animals that we cared for during my childhood. It seems we always had stray dogs and cats, and what ever else he could find to bring home. He was and is an angel. Photo of my dad in navy in WWII Comments to Mari Swierzynski (marigynski@yahoo.com) (Alpheus' daughter).