Born in the Ozark Mountains of Missouri, the doctor who recorded Clyde's birth gave the wrong year, so Clyde always used December 1920, the date on his birth certificate, though he was born in December 1919. His mother died from typhoid fever when he was 13. Clyde used to say "we liked to starve to death during the depression" so school took a back seat to making money to buy food for the family. He eventually graduated from Cabool High School in 1941 when he was 21, having to quit several times to go to work. In his High School Annual Clyde was remembered for his ability to play football and his love of fishing. After graduation he made his way to Dryad, WA to visit his Great Uncle Lewis. While he was visiting, Pearl Harbor was attacked and so he joined the US Navy the next day, serving on the USS San Francisco, a Cruiser, as a Gunner's Mate and the USS Pondera, a Supply Ship. He saw action in Guadalcanal, Okinawa, the Gilbert Islands, Makin Island, Wake Island, and Savo Island in the South Pacific, earning the Good Conduct Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Ribbon with 5 stars, and the American Area Ribbon, as well as special commendation during the Battle of Savo Island. Clyde met his future wife Gwen Bagley at a USO dance in Astoria, Oregon while the USS San Francisco was docked there. After the War was over and he was discharged, Clyde worked as a Mason in the Chehalis Brickyard and retired from Weyerhaeuser, having worked as a Yarder Engineer. Clyde is remembered as a man who worked hard, supported his family, had a great exuberance for life, and enjoyed the hobbies of fishing, hunting, and building boats and buildings and repairing things. He had 5 children: Lonnie, Allen, Michael, Bernita, and Kathleen and was preceded in death by his wife, Gwen and his son, Allen. He was survived by his 2nd wife, Claire.