He was born on September 10, 1931 in Bolivia, NC and married Margaret Jane Cooper Clemmons of Fayetteville, NC on June 5, 1955. Their first home was in Columbia, South Carolina for the completion of his university studies at the University of South Carolina, where he later received a Masters of Education degree. They were blessed with two sons while in Columbia, Bradford L. Clemmons and Danford G. Clemmons, and they were blessed with a third son while serving as an Air Force officer in Japan, Thomas G. Clemmons.
At an early age, the family moved to Myrtle Beach where he graduated from Myrtle Beach High School in 1949. He always loved flying and started by painting lines on the runway at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base in exchange for free flying lessons. He enlisted in the Air Force and met Margaret at her church while stationed at Pope AFB in Fayetteville. After an enlistment in the Air Force, he attended USC in both the Naval and Air Force ROTC programs, and then joined the Air Force as a regular commissioned Second Lieutenant. He had many assignments throughout the USA and overseas, including Japan and Vietnam. He earned his private pilot’s license in Japan. After retiring from the Air Force as a Major in 1975, he returned to Bolivia, NC where he took up farming. As a renaissance, man he was continually improving his education. After excelling in a welding class, he became an instructor of welding at Brunswick Community College where he led the expansion of the welding program for several years.
Thurston was a founding member of Faith Baptist Church of Bolivia. Tut and Margaret were active in the church and choir for decades. They served many friends and families in the area with their kindness and generosity.
Tut was preceded to Heaven by his wife of 64 years, Margaret Cooper Clemmons, in 2019. He is survived by three sons, Brad and his wife Sandra, Dan, and Tom and his wife Melissa; five grandchildren, Bradford Lock Clemmons Jr., Heather Elizabeth Konovalov (Nicholas), Zachary Thomas Clemmons (Erin), Will Cooper Clemmons, Jonathan Edward Clemmons; four great-grandchildren, Nicholas Konovalov Jr, Eleanor Margaret Clemmons, Ames Thomas Clemmons, and Virgil Ezekiel Clemmons.
He was preceded in death by his parents Thurston Clemmons Sr. and Lena Danford Clemmons of Myrtle Beach, SC and by a sister, Opal Clemmons Johnson of Lexington, NC.
We will gather to celebrate Tut’s life on Saturday, April 10 at Faith Baptist Church in Bolivia at 11:00am. Visitation will take place from 10:00am to 11:00am at the church. Interment will be at the Forest Lawn Cemetery, located about 1 mile north of Faith Baptist Church off Highway 17. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in Thurston’s name to your favorite charity or church missions fund. To God be the glory!
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