Clarence George Strand

The couple’s fruitful marriage resulted in five children: Mark (Marjorie), David (Sherri), Thomas (Cynthia), Sarah (Thomas Notestine), and Peter (Julie); 11 grandchildren: Lillian (Pernoud), John David, Matthew, Eric, Emma (Carver), Christopher, Michael, John Mark, Jack, Jonas and Jeremy; and (to date) seven great-grandchildren: Jordan, Holly, Zavier, Peyton, David, Sierra and Maxwell.

Clarence was born of Norwegian ancestry and raised in Minneapolis. He loved his parents, John and Lillian, and (with his sister, Gloria) enjoyed a happy childhood, becoming an excellent ice-skater; pulling for the Minnesota Golden Gophers football team; and seeing his baseball hero, Ted Williams, play for the Minneapolis Millers at Nicollet Park.

But when Clarence was 14, his father died, and so the teenager went to work delivering the Minneapolis Star Journal, both early morning and after school, for the next three-and-a-half years. On the day of a massive snowstorm, Clarence was the only newsboy in the city who managed to deliver his papers. This foretold of the work ethic, self-discipline and dependability that would characterize his life.

Upon graduating from high school in January 1944, Clarence enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific as a Radioman Second Class Petty Officer. In October 1946, he was honorably discharged and returned to Minneapolis. He began working at the Veterans Administration, where he would meet and fall in love with Lucy, whom he married in January 1950.

Clarence liked to say that it was Lucy who suggested he consider a career with the JCPenney Co. She gave him a book by Mr. Penney, Mainstreet Merchant, which he read in one sitting. A favorite line of his from the book went something like, If you want to succeed in a company, don’t ride the escalator, take the stairs. In other words, Clarence said, “It’s not about taking the easy path but earning success by doing things the right way, though often the hard way.”

He flourished at JCPenney, being promoted to manage his first store, in Milford, Ohio, at the young age of 34. He went on to manage stores in Latham, N.Y.; Pontiac, Mich.; the then-brand-new Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, Mich.; and the Eastland Center in Harper Woods, Mich.

Year in, year out, the performance of his stores, in terms of sales gains and other metrics of success, placed Clarence among the premier store-managers in the chain.

He worked full days six days a week, but this did not diminish from his role as a family man. During his children’s growing-up years, Clarence, an energetic father, devoted his free time to them. He took great pleasure, along with Lucy (“She made everything possible,” he said), in introducing the kids to books and music, cultural venues, swimming, tennis, golf, snow skiing, and all manner of other pursuits and experiences, not least church and Sunday school.

After Clarence retired in 1986, he and Lucy enjoyed a wonderful span of years, going on 21 elder-hostel trips throughout the United States, Canada and Europe. They took long walks and bicycle rides, and Clarence could be seen in the early mornings gliding around Avon Park in Rochester on his rollerblades. He played doubles tennis well into his 80s.

He and Lucy shared a strong faith and were regular, active members of the churches they attended throughout their marriage, including 50 years at St. John Lutheran Church in Rochester. Over the decades, Clarence served as elder, treasurer, committee chairman and campaign head, and he and Lucy together hosted Bible studies and trained evangelism teams.

Clarence Strand was a good man, his long life well lived. He loved his family, and that love will not be forgotten.

A memorial service will be private. Memorial gifts may go to St. John Lutheran Church or the charity of one’s choice.