Clarence Walton
August 31, 1949 ~ February 15, 2021
Clarence J. Walton, 71, of Cedar Rapids went to be with his Lord February 15, 2021. Celebration of Life and burial will be at a later date. Arrangements are with Stewart Baxter Funeral & Memorial Services, Cedar Rapids.
Clarence was born August 31, 1949, the son of James and Mary Ellen (Squires) Walton of Tipton, Iowa. Clarence was a 1968 Tipton High School graduate. In 1971, he enlisted and proudly served as a Sergeant in the U.S. Army's 5th Special Forces Group. He married Wendy L. Benesh on August 2, 1975. They were blessed with three children: Heather, Alyssa, and James.
In November of 1977, Clarence graduated from ISU with a degree in Fisheries and Wildlife Biology. Throughout his life, Clarence enjoyed fishing and hunting and his passion for the outdoors led him in the direction of land surveying. After being mentored by Les Ott and Don Bunting, both for whom he had the utmost respect, Clarence earned his Land Surveyor's License and enjoyed a prestigious career that lasted over three decades. He also served as a mentor to others sharing his surveying knowledge with those pursuing their licenses.
Clarence was a member of the Iowa State Land Surveyors Association and Hus Memorial Presbyterian Church where he served as an Elder and Trustee.
Survivors include his wife, Wendy; his children, Heather (Robert) Lee and James Walton; grandchildren, Aubrey, Olivia, Allison, Elizabeth, Gavin, Carter and Bradley; sister, Vada (Robert) Elliott; sister-in-law, Judy McLaskey; and brother-in-law, Randy (Kris) Benesh. He was preceded in death by his parents; his daughter, Alyssa Peshek; and brother-in-law, Francis McLaskey.
This "Paul Bunyan" size man was known for his quick wit, his entertaining stories, his "Clarence-isms" and most of all, his love for God, family, friends and country. He was truly one of a kind and will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him.
Memorials may be directed to the Alzheimer's Association, American Heart Association, or to a charity of your choice.
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Clarence will be missed greatly.
Clarence always had a smile and something funny to share. What I miss the most are our VERY firm handshakes where we tried to make the other wince, but to no avail. We’d both squeeze with all our might as we greeted each other. Just the nicest guy and he’ll be sorely missed!
Can only imagine the pain you both endured all for one-upping each other! Thank you for sharing your memory and the kind words. Wendy
Clarence made me breakfast one morning , bacon , sausages, potatoes and 6 eggs, I think Clarence had dozen!
Nick, Thank you for posting the pictures! Is that Jimmy with him? (Whenever I cooked, he had a limit of 3!) It was so good to hear from you the other day! Wendy
Clarence and I were in my sister and brother in law’s wedding…Bev and Bruce Penningroth. I told my sister this morning that he and Bruce are enjoying each other’s company again.
Judging from the many stories he told about the crazy things those two used to do together, I can only imagine!
Al and I (as well as my nurse, Jenny) are so sad to learn of Clarence’s passing. He always made us laugh and we looked forward to seeing him. A really good guy, gone too soon. Wishing you peace with wonderful memories.
Thanks to all of you for taking such good care of Clarence! I know he wasn’t the best patient when it came to doing what he was supposed to do, but he certainly enjoyed his visits with you both! ( I always said it took the two “Wendys” in his life to get him to finally listen!) We so appreciate all that you did for him! Wendy
Being a cousin to Clarence, I remember him from a very early age. For many years we celebrated Christmas and/or Thanksgiving at the Squires home in Colo, Iowa. Always a big family gathering which Clarence loved. As an adult, Clarence continued his love for family reunions and was always looking forward to the next one. We will miss you.
Janyce, Clarence had so many fond memories of the Colo house and all of the cousins and aunts and uncles gathering there. I heard many stories throughout our 46 years together of those special times! Wendy
We were saddened to learn of Clarence’s passing. He was such a good guy and we have many fun memories from the pancake breakfasts. God bless you & your family.
Thank you, Bill and Carol. We have great memories of you two also. Definitely happy times of old! Wendy
I was Clarence and Wendy’s mail carrier on Lauren Drive before we relocated to PA. I always enjoyed shooting the breeze with him , talking about mushroom hunting and listening to his stories about his time in the service and his time as a surveyor. One of the most gentle giants I’ve ever known. So sorry for your loss. He was a great guy! Cathleen Knight-Jordan
Thank you, Cathleen. He definitely was a “people” person and sometimes he would be so engaged in conversation that he would be oblivious to the fact that people had jobs to do. I remember him telling me that you were going to move; he was genuinely sorry to hear that. Wendy
We were very saddened to hear of Clarence’s passing here at Dr. Pruchno’s office. We loved having him come visit and share stories with us. He always had a way of making you feel special when he talked and looked at you. He will be missed and thought of fondly. -Dr. Pruchno, Britt, Erin, & Elizabeth
We appreciate all that you did for him over these many years. Thank you so much! Wendy and family
Very sad to hear this. I learned a great deal from Clarence on the trail to becoming a Licensed Land Surveyor myself. He had great stories and a greater appetite. He always kidded me about my Norwegian heritage greeting me with “uffda lefse lutefisk” each time he saw me. Some of the best memories I have in surveying are working in the field with Clarence on boundary surveys. He was an excellent land surveyor and great mentor. I will miss him. Condolences to the Walton family.
Thank you, Gregg! Clarence always loved land surveying and the more challenging, the better! He had had such good mentors when he first began that he felt that it was very important to help others whenever he could. Wendy
From Ken Squires – as Clarences’ oldest cousin, I remember him well. He had serious medical issues as a child, spending a lot of time in hospital. As we all could see, however, he got through it well, and really bloomed as a young adult. We all will miss him.
Clarence definitely loved to get together with his cousins! (He had a captive audience for his stories and jokes!) We both always had such a good time.
So sorry to hear of Clarence passing. He always enjoyed surveying out and around Jones County… we sure did have a good time. Thoughts and prayers are with you all.
Thank you, Pat. I was going to try to get in touch with you to let you know. So love the photos that you shared. We don’t have hardly any pictures of him surveying so are very happy to see that part of his life. He really enjoyed surveying with you in Jones Co. He definitely was in his element there! Wendy
Thank you so very much for sharing these photos Pat! He was so passionate about his work. It was so fun to hear his stories and see the joy it brought him. He loved to share his knowledge and teach us kids as well about the history of the land. Love these! Thank you, Heather- his oldest daughter
We found the old shoe in the area and Clarence wrote “foot steps of original surveyor”, we nailed to tree. first thing surveyors are taught to do. We laughed for days on that.
I was a classmate of Clarence from grade school to graduation. He was a great friend. I always have a hard time at times like these because I can never come up with something to say that his family hasn’t heard a hundred times already. So, I’ll just say this: Clarence was a good friend and sometimes in ways mentor. He was a lot smarter than I was. I had to struggle to keep up and he was always just a little bit ahead of me . He was a great artist. He could draw whatever came into his mind and would share them with me and Tom Spear, another excellent artist. We did go hunting and fishing together on occasion and were always boasting who caught the biggest fish. I am very sorry to hear of his passing.
Dan, over the years, Clarence would mention you now and again as he, too, valued the friendship that the two of you had. I am glad that you mention his artistic ability. He especially loved sketching cartoons and a surveyor friend was talking about the many drawings with witty captions that he would sketch on just scrap pieces of paper: “Good enough to be published,” he told me. Even as an adult, he was an excellent artist.
Clarence was known as a great outdoors man, which he was, and a man with a warm heart, which he had, but Clarence was also an avid reader and loved the English language. I remember built-in bookshelves just inside his bedroom door in 7th grade with a copy of “Dune” by Frank Herbert on one. Dune is an 800+ page book and a masterpiece of science fiction. Clarence had read the book before I had even heard of it. I have a love for books and Clarence is one of the reasons why. A copy of “Dune” is on my bookshelf now and I think it is there largely to remind me of the influence Clarence has had on my life. I can imagine Clarence now leaning back, feet up, with a copy of Dune in his hands and with a smile on his face knowing the impact he had on our lives.
Tom, thank you so much for your friendship over these many years. Up until the last few years, Clarence was passionate about reading everything from sci-fi to history books, and would even peruse a volume of the encyclopedia from time to time. While he hated shopping he could spend hours in a bookstore!
I had the pleasure of working for Clarence in 87 & 88. We did a lot of construction staking and spent many hours driving to job sites. He always had stories to fill the miles. Some mornings I would be a bit worse off due to the night before. Clarence would tell me. “You’re never going to get a job with the circus if you can’t hit the stakes any better than that!” We had a lot of fun and I am a better person for having known him.