Wilma Bunce Clements

Wilma Clements, age 86, of Summerville at Chestnut Hill, Columbus, OH, passed away on Monday, July 12, 2010 at her residence. Wilma was born on June 15, 1924 in Mount Holly, NJ, the youngest of three children of Edgar Fenn Bunce and Julia Freda Mory Bunce. After grammar school in Metuchen, middle school in Trenton, and high school in Glassboro, NJ, she traveled to Vermont to earn a BA. in Psychology from Middlebury College in 1945, where she played baseball, field hockey, volleyball, was Student Union President, a member of Tri Delta Sorority and was an officer in Mortar Board Honor Society. She returned to Glassboro where her father was president of New Jersey State Teachers College at Glassboro, now Rowan University, and went to work at Owens-Illinois Glass Company. In 1945 Wilma became reacquainted with Daniel J. Clements Jr. whom she had met 4 years earlier in Oneonta, NY, and who now was a Navy Ensign stationed aboard the USS Valley Forge (CV-45). They married October 19,1946 at The Chapel, U.S. Naval Base, Philadelphia, PA. During their 50 years together, Wilma was a lifelong "Navy Wife," moving among duty stations and setting up homes in San Francisco, CA; Honolulu, HI; Staten Island, NY; Bayonne, NJ; Norfolk, VA; Magnolia Springs, AL; Coronado, CA; Levittown, PA; Fairfax, VA; Monterey, and Carmel, CA; Millington, TN; Columbus, OH; Pensacola, FL; and again Columbus. Meanwhile, Dan and Wilma raised a family of five children, Wilma often solo, while Dan was at sea or stationed abroad. When her youngest child began school, Wilma took up golf, becoming an avid and terrific player, many times a club champion at D.C.S.C. Golf Club in Columbus, sharing that avocation with Dan in retirement. Together, she and Dan volunteered for the Radio Reading Service at Pensacola's WUWF. In later years, after she could no longer play golf, she was a regular volunteer at West Florida Hospital in Pensacola. After Dan's death in 1997, Wilma moved to Azalea Trace Retirement Community in Pensacola, where she developed many deep and loving friendships. In 2009, Wilma moved to Columbus to be closer to her family. Wilma is preceded in death by her husband, Captain Daniel J. Clements Jr., SC, USN (Ret.), an infant daughter Kathleen, brothers Edgar F. Bunce Jr. and Lester M. Bunce. She is survived by her five children and their partners: Daniel J. Clements III and Stephen Rogers of Columbus, OH; Patrick and Melanie Clements of Hightstown, NJ; Mary Clements Horton and James Horton of West Point, VA; Thomas and Laurie Clements of New Albany, OH; Julie Clements-Reagan and William Reagan of East Lyme, CT; eight grandchildren, Stephanie Horton of Berkeley, CA; Andrew Clements of New Albany, OH; Kathleen Horton Roovers (Benjamin) of Madison, WI; Peter Clements of Washington, DC; Chelsea Clements of Cincinnati, OH; Emma Horton of West Point, VA; Dugan and Connor Reagan of East Lyme, CT; sisters-in-law, Elizabeth Accurso Bunce of Pitman, NJ; Mary Elizabeth Crawford Bunce of Bernardsville, NJ; Nancy Clements Schumacher (Delmar) of Warminster, PA; brother-in-law George J. Clements (Mary Eidman) of Alpharetta, GA; and many nieces and nephews. A memorial Mass will be celebrated Tuesday, July 20, 2010, 3:00 pm in the chapel at Church of the Resurrection, New Albany, OH. Immediately following Mass, friends and family are invited to the home of Tom & Laurie Clements at 4263 Olmsted Road, New Albany, OH, to a celebratory wake. Wilma's cremains will be interred beside Dan's at Barrancas National Cemetery at Naval Air Station, Pensacola, FL at a future date. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts may be made to the American Cancer Society, 870 Michigan Ave., Columbus OH 43215, or to the donor's favorite charity in Wilma's honor. Please visit www.schoedinger.com to view Wilma’s Life Tribute and extend condolences. "Faithful, loving, dedicated."