William Emmett Claycomb, 88, died Saturday, March 19, in Taos, New Mexico.

He was born May 6, 1927, to Wendell and Edith (Fowler) Claycomb of La Harpe, IL. Bill was the eldest of four siblings, along with Eugene, Linda, and Ray Leon. He went to school all his primary and secondary years in La Harpe. He met his beloved beautiful and brilliant Clare Marie DuCasse when they both served in the Navy, stationed in
Cleveland. They married on November 23, 1946. She predeceased him in 2012.

Bill always said his greatest pride was fathering his six activist children and later,
being grandfather to 12 socially conscious grandchildren. He instilled in them a love
of Nature, a strong sense of justice and personal responsibility for taking action for
the public good. He worked for the US Forest Service and the Bureau of Land
Management, raising his family in Iowa, Utah, Nebraska, South Dakota, Oregon and
Colorado.

Outdoorsman, singer and social activist, amongst his greatest achievements was
preventing the construction of an environmentally harmful second entrance to San
Diego Bay, at the southern end of the bay. For that volunteer work, he was
recognized by Friends of South Bay Wildlife in 1999. He continued to the very end to
inspire his offspring.

These include children Glenn, Paula (spouse: Mark Jackson), Jeanne (died 2010),
Annette, Daniel, and Jason (fiance: Magda Szumlakowska) and grandchildren
Gillian, Andrew and Shahin Claycomb; Damien Jackson (spouse: Ragen Moss);
Travis Hughes; Daniel and Elizabeth Gallagher (spouse: Jake Douglass); Dane
(spouse: Dora Alvarez), Nathan and Alicia Claycomb (spouse: Eric Fortin); and
Nicole and Alyxandra Claycomb. He was supremely proud of four great-
grandchildren: Seneca Mackson and Giselle, Lisette, and Dane Claycomb.

The family invites everyone to celebrate his life in Taos, NM, this July and also in La
Harpe in August. For more information, contact Paula Claycomb at pmfclay@yahoo.com.