Clara was born Nov. 11, 1923, but it was recorded as Nov. 14, 1923. When she needed her birth record for Social Security she found this out. She still always used Nov 11 unless it was something for Social Security. She was born in Quincy, Illinois. Her father and mother were William Daniel and Martha Elizabeth Cook Van Horn. She was the 9th of 11 children. She had 8 brothers (Robert Charles, William Raymond, Walter Earl, Lawrence Paul, Herbert Allen, Edward Joseph, Eugene Ernest, and Donald George) and two sisters (Tennie Laura, and Mary Elizabeth). Her father was from Missouri and her mother was from Texas. They had children born in Texas, Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, and Iowa. William worked for the railroad and they moved frequently. My mom used to tell us about a castle they lived in when they lived in Missouri. She had a nickname of "bullpup" when she was a toddler, because she would grawl at anybody that tried to take her baby bottle from her. She met Robert William Blackburn in St.Louis, Missouri when he was stationed at Jefferson Barricks while in the Army. They were married in St. Louis on June 7, 1941. They had two children, Robert William Jr. (Bobby) and William Daniel (Billy). Robert was still in the Army. Robert and Clara divorced and Clara married Willie Efrid. They divorced and she remarried Robert June 28, 1949. They had three more children while Clara lived in Arkansas, near her parents, and Robert made Sargent in the Army. These children were Richard Lee, Janet Joanne, and Judy Grace. In the late 1950's Clara talked Robert into getting out of the Army
and he moved to Gary, Indiana (he had been born in Indiana and raise in the area) and went to work in the Steel Mills. Clara then with 5 children in toe drove, in a Studebaker; to Gary, Indiana to meet Robert. They had
two more children in Gary, Herbert Allen, and Jimmy Dee.
They bought a home in East Gary, Indiana and lived there till Robert died in 1976. Clara sold the house in the late 1980's and her and four of her sons moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma. Clara's oldest daughter lived in Tulsa, plus two of Clara's brothers and a sister. She was an avid Bingo player and she had a booth at the Flea Market for years, in Indiana and then in Oklahoma. She loved to travel and for many years took her children by train to Arkansas from Indiana to visit their grandparents. Clara passed away the evening of Monday July 2, 2007, in St. John's Medical Center. She was cremated and her ashes were taken to Hobart, Indiana in August of 2007 and buried next to her husband Robert.
Besides her seven children and their spouses, she is survived by 11 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.