Dale Wilbur Clausen

Mr. Dale W. "Speck" Clausen, age 79 of Clark died in the Kindred Hospital at Northlake, Il. - a Chicago suburb - on Thursday morning, September 14, 2006 after a long illness. Funeral services will be held on Friday, September 22, 2006 at 11AM in the St. Michael's Catholic Church at Clark with the Reverend Bill Hamak officiating. Burial will be held at a later date in the Rose Hill Cemetery at Clark. Eileen Heilman will be the organist and Brenda LaBrie will be the song leader. Visitation will be held on Thursday from 5-7PM at the Furness Funeral Home in Clark and 1 hour preceding services in the Church on Friday morning. He was born at Clark on December 11, 1926, the son of Ernest A. and Emma (Stanley) Clausen. He attended school at Clark graduating in 1945 from Clark High School. Following his graduation he entered the US Army and served until 1947. He then returned to Clark and worked at Lien Grocery until 1952. It was at that time he began a career in the banking business working for First National Bank until 1956 then transferring to the First Bank Corp. in Minneapolis where he worked as a bank examiner until 1963, serving banks in a five-state region. On April 20, 1963 he was united in marriage to Constance 'Connie' Klawiter in Strickland Township, WI. Following their marriage he became a bank loan officer for First National Bank in Havre, MT. In 1974 he returned to Clark and served as the Vice-President of First National Bank until 1980 at which time he took a position of regional auditor for First National Bank living in Highmore, SD. In April of 1985 he returned to Clark and then in 1986 he became the finance officer for the City of Clark, a position he had until retiring in 1999. 'Speck's' love of sports, especially baseball, was second to none. Along with his brother Ed, he was one of the original players of the Clark Cub's ' one of Clark Amateur Baseball Team at that time' in 1947. He had even, with his son Dave, traveled over the years to watch baseball in 14 major league parks and had visited the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. He also went to the Football Hall of Fame in Canton, OH. His favorite major league teams were the Minnesota Twins and the Minnesota Vikings having been a fan of theirs since their beginning. He also enjoyed bowling, golfing and watching high school sports. He had been a member of the Elks Lodge, Eagles Lodge and Optimist Clubs in Havre and also was a former Clark Volunteer Fireman, and had once been active in the Clark Area Chamber of Commerce and had also been a member of the Knights of Columbus. Survivors include his wife Connie of Clark, children Ronald (Mira) Clausen of Seattle, WA, Gary Clausen of Colorado Springs, CO, Cindy Clausen of Sioux Falls and Dave Clausen of Minnetonka, MN, a granddaughter, Desiree Clausen and siblings, Edwin (Bev) Clausen of Clark, Velma (Bob) Drake of Mesa, AZ and Evelyn (John) Garcia of Alamogordo, NM. and sisters-in-law: Kathleen Clausen of Clark, Dianna Clausen of Redfield, Arlene Clausen of Watertown, WI and Alice Clausen of Mobridge. Preceding him in death were his parents, 8 brothers, Elmer, Henry, Ferd, Ernest,Jr., Walter, Donald, Howard and Ronald and 2 sisters, Viola and Leona. Services are announced by the Furness Funeral Home at Clark. email condolences to www.furnessfuneralhome.com