Robert (Bob) Clair Clever, 90, died Tuesday, December 16, 2014 after a prolonged illness in the company of his loving family and under the extraordinary care of the staff of Neighborhood Hospice, West Chester, PA.

At his death he made his home at Granite Farms Estate in Media, PA.

Born July 12, 1924 in Parnassus, PA (New Kensington) to Arlington Clair Clever and Hazel Snyder Clever, Bob lived an active and optimistic life. He graduated from New Castle Senior High School in 1942 after attending one-room schools in Snyderville and Belknap during the depression, living atop the family’s Belknap General Store. He volunteered for the U.S. Navy in 1943 where he most proudly served as a signalman in the U.S.N. Armed Guard in the Mediterranean and European theaters until his honorable discharge in 1946.

He graduated from Westminster College in 1950 with bachelor of business administration and secondary education degrees. He also completed graduate work in elementary education at Slippery Rock State College and in economics at the University of Pittsburgh.

Bob pursued a variety of interesting work during his lifetime. He served as a secretary in the Engineering department of the Gulf Oil Corporation, as administrative assistant to the president of Pennsylvania Transformer Company, McGraw Edison Company and the Lectromet Furnace Company. He was a photo-journalist for the Warren Times Mirror and Observer, Warren, PA and served as Warren’s assistant borough manager. For ten years he owned and published the Forest Press, a weekly newspaper out of Tionesta, PA. Upon retirement , he joined the American Lung Association of Northwestern, PA where he served as a certified smoking cessation and asthma management instructor.

Bob’s greatest passion was for the outdoors. He was an avid hunter and award-winning fly fisherman, achieving multiple titles as a champion fly caster and fly tier and was a certified NAACC casting instructor. He wrote extensively for outdoor sporting publications, including Pennsylvania Woods and Waters and Pennsylvania Angler. He served as editor and publisher of the PA Outdoor Writers Association newsletter, POWWOW and was secretary of the Allegheny River Protective Association, where he served as a dogged advocate for the improvement of the river’s health and sustained vitality. He also belonged to the Pittsburgh Casting Club, Sierra Club, Audubon Society and Wilderness Society.

Bob was a member of Masonic organizations including Blue Lodge, Tall Cedars, Grotto, Consistory and Shrine. He was a member of Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church in Media after moving from the home in Endeavor, PA which he shared with his wife, Dale, for over 25 years. There they were passionate gardeners and bird watchers. These were the happiest times of their lives, where the light was always on at the Clever house and friends were always welcomed with great cheer, no matter how unexpectedly they arrived. When asked what his best life experience was he answered unequivocally, Meeting Dale Elizabeth Rue whom he married at the age of 47, inheriting three teenage children in the bargain. Despite his many impression life achievements, his greatest contribution in life was to serve as the most devoted husband, father, grandfather and uncle that any family could hope to know and love.

Bob was preceded in death by his wife of 39 years, Dale Elizabeth Clever; son, Douglas Rue, parents, Clair and Hazel Clever; sister, Mary Louise Morton and brother, Arlington James Clever, and other beloved family members. He is survived by his daughters Gale Elaine Rue, West Chester, PA and Heidi Rue Ralston (and husband, Vaughn), Tionesta, PA; grandchildren Nathaniel Flandreau of Harrisburg, PA, Erinn Flandreau of San Jose, California, Harland Joseph (Joe) Rue III of West Hickory, PA and Lakein Rue of Clarion, PA; sister-in-law Mary Jane Trautman; nieces and nephews: Karen Rodabaugh (husband Rick, Autumn, Lee and Ricky), Eric Morton (wife Kelly, Katherine and Alex), Karl Morton, Susan Eartheart, Curt Trautman, Liz Trautman (husband John, and Eric), Kathy Trautman, and many close cousins and extended family.

A Memorial Service will be held at Reformation Evangelical Lutheran Church, 102 West Rose Tree Road, Media, PA on Sunday, December 21 at 4:00 p.m. followed by a reception at the home of daughter Gale Rue, West Chester, PA. A Celebration of Life will be held in the spring at the family homestead in Endeavor, PA, which details will be circulated at a later date. The family requests that should people wish to make a charitable donation in Bob’s memory that they support the American Lung Association, 810 River Avenue, Suite 140, Pittsburgh, PA 15212 and direct that the donation be used for Programs.

To send condolences online, visit haganfuneralhome.com.