Carl Houston Clawson

Carl was born in Rock Hill, SC on August 12, 1919 and lived on the Winthrop University campus where his father was the resident engineer. He attended Winthrop Training School where he played football, basketball and the clarinet. Carl graduated from Clemson College in 1942 as a 2nd Lieutenant the US Army with a degree in Civil Engineering. Upon graduation he entered WWII as an officer in the Army Corps of Engineers and served with honor in the European Theatre until the end of the war. He continued to serve in the Army Reserves for 28 years and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel before retiring.

He is predeceased by his first wife Betty Jean Bullard of Elba, AL in 1991. Carl and Betty made their home in Rock Hill, SC where he had taken a job with the Celeanese Corporation. In 1955 he was offered the position as Resident Engineer/ Director of Planning and Construction at Furman University as the University made its move from Downtown Greenville to its present location. In 1962 Furman decided to build a replica of the Bell Tower originally located on its downtown campus. Because none of the original architectural plans could be found, he climbed the old Bell Tower to record its exact dimensions. He later insisted that a scaled version of the Bell Tower planned for the Rose Garden would not work as well and had the tower built at full scale on the present site. Thanks to his vision, Furman’s best known symbol today stands proudly by the lake. Carl worked at Furman for the next 28 years pouring his life into developing the campus that everyone enjoys today. Carl was an active member of Northside Methodist Church. Golfing, fishing and hunting were his favorite activities along with attending Clemson and Furman football games.

He is survived by his wife Joy and his 3 children, Carl Clawson Jr and his wife Susan, Phil Clawson and Elizabeth Slater and her husband Terry. Also surviving are 6 grandchildren Annie Marion, Jill McPhail, Clay Clawson, Cass Clawson, Rob Slater and Bess Baldwin. He is also survived by 7 great grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at the Charles Ezra Daniel Memorial Chapel at Furman University, Sunday, November 20, 2016 at 1:00pm.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Banner Elk Christian Fellowship,140 Woods Lane, Banner Elk, NC 28604.