Clarence (Zoom) Chester Neill

Clarence C. (Zoom) Neill, age 86 of Clark died early Friday morning, March 9, 2012, at Prairie Lakes Hospital in Watertown following a short illness. Funeral services will be held on Tuesday, March 13th, at 10:30 a.m. at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Clark. The Reverend John Short will officiate and burial will follow in the St. Boniface Cemetery at Clark. All coffee buddies and the Clark Rotary Club should consider themselves honorary casketbearers. Active casketbearers will be Joe Hulscher, Keith Zobel and Dan, Gene, Mike and George Loofe. Diane Varilek will be the organist with Bonnie Graves as song leader. Full military honors will be presented at the cemetery by the Cagley-Smith American Legion Post #60 of Clark and the South Dakota Army National Guard Honor Corp from Sioux Falls. Visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. on Monday evening at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and prior to the service at the church on Tuesday. Clarence Chester Neill was born on August 30, 1925 at Walthill, NE, the son of George Thomas and Laura Regina (Kessinger) Neill. He attended Walthill public schools and graduated with the class of 1943. He enlisted in the Army V12 Program while in high school and upon graduating was inducted into the Army Air Corps at Omaha, NE. Zoom received his basic training at St. Louis, MO and attended gunnery school at Laredo, TX. He then went to Lincoln, NE where he was assigned to a crew on a B24 bomber, training in Pueblo, CO. The crew shipped out from Topeka, KS to Carignola, Italy which was their home from the spring of 1944 to the fall of 1945. On his 19th mission over Vienna, Austria, Clarence and his crew were shot down on February 7, 1945. They landed safely and were picked up by partisans. After 38 days missing in action, they spent 10 days at a hospital in Bucharest, Romania and freedom. He attained the rank of Staff Sargeant and was tail gunner aboard the aircraft. He was awarded the Air Medal with 2 clusters, the European Theatre medal with 5 bronze stars and one silver star, the American Campaign medal, the Army Occupation medal, the Good Conduct Medal and the WW II Victory medal. He received his honorable discharge medal from the service on November 8, 1945. Upon his return to the United States, he and Imogene Sanders were married On July 7, 1945 at Walthill, NE. Following his discharge from the Air Corp, they made their home in South Sioux City, NE. He was employed by De Forest Plumbing and Heating, receiving his apprentice plumber's license. In 1947, he began working for the Northern Natural Gas Company. They were transferred to Madison, SD where they and their two sons lived for one year. They moved to Clark on December 18, 1957 where he worked for Northern Natural until retiring in 1983. He continued working part time during the summers for Northern Natural after his retirement. He was a member of St. Michael's Catholic Church of Clark and was a 3rd Degree member of the Knights of Columbus. He was president of the Clark Golf Club for several years, a past president of the Clark Rotary Club, a past board member of the Clark Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Cagley- Smith American Legion Post #60 of Clark, the VFW Post 4994 of Clark and the Disabled American Veterans. He served on the Clark City Council for three terms and served three consecutive terms as Mayor of the City of Clark. Among survivors grateful for having shared in his life are his wife, Imogene of Clark; a son, Richard J. (Peggy) Neill of Pierre; seven grandchildren, Jeffrey, Benjamin, Marie, Rachel, Courtney, Stefanie and Andrew and six great-grandchildren; two brothers, Robert (Mary Lou) Neill of Brewer, ME and Thomas (Barbara) Neill of Clinton, IA; and a sister-in-law, Mary Lou Neill of Rosalie, NE. He was preceded in death by his parents; a son, Dennis L. Neill; two brothers, Arlin and Donald (Elva) Neill and a sister, Irene Loofe (John) Fuller. Funeral arrangements are with the Furness Funeral Home at Clark. For further information please visit www.furnessfuneralhome.com