Funeral service will be held at 1:00 PM on Saturday afternoon at Colonial Baptist Church, 6051 Tryon Road, Cary, NC. The family will receive friends following the service. Interment at a future date at Sherwood Memorial Park in Salem, VA.
Born in Roanoke County, VA, Bill was the son of Elmer Blair Clarkson and Ethel Lavender Clarkson. After graduating from Fincastle HS in Virginia in 1941, he served 4 years in the US Navy Seabees in the Pacific Theatre on Tinian Island, helping build and maintain the runways that launched the Enola Gay and countless other airplanes into action during the Second World War. Upon the conclusion of the war, he returned to Roanoke, VA and trained for a successful career in accounting, spending his entire career of nearly 40 years with Brown Edwards and Company in Roanoke and later Bluefield, WV. Bill treasured his family and his faith above all else, and all recognized him as a man of character and honor. He enjoyed golf and fishing in earlier years and served his church families at Williamson Road Church of the Brethren in Roanoke and First Baptist Church of Bluefield as a deacon. He was a longtime member of the Williamson Road Lion’s Club in Roanoke, VA, serving as President in 1976, and in retirement served a term as President of Fincastle Country Club in Bluefield, VA, where he loved to walk the golf course with or without his clubs.
Bill is survived by his beloved and devoted wife of 65 years, Christine Ferguson Clarkson; daughters, Carol C. Lobenhofer of Ada, OH and Dr. Marsha G. Clarkson of Atlanta, GA; a son, Mark W. Clarkson, MD of Cary: grandchildren, Dr. Kristina Tanner of Baltimore, MD, Rev. Lauren Chafin Lobenhofer of Gum Spring, VA, Jonathan Clarkson, Brian Clarkson and Emily Clarkson, all of Cary; as well as 4 great-grandchildren. His son, Stephen D. Clarkson, preceded him in death, as did Bill’s 5 brothers and 1 sister.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Durham Rescue Mission in Durham, NC or Rescue Mission Ministries in Roanoke, VA.
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