Clarence William Byrne

Clarence William Byrne of Rigby, Idaho and Puerto Penasco, Sonora, Mexico died on August 9, 2018 at his Puerto Penasco home. He was 103 years old. He was born September 6, 1914, the son of Coral and Alzada (Furness) Byrne in Burton, Idaho. Clancy attended school in Burton and Rexburg, Idaho and served as Class Vice President his junior year. He graduated from Madison High School in 1933. After graduation from high school, Clancy attended Ricks College in Rexburg. In 1937, Clancy went to work for Mr. Glen Herdti at the Herdti Electric Co. This job was seasonal, so in the fall of 1938, Mr. Herdti helped Clancy find work with the Utah Power & Light Co. He retired from Utah Power in 1977. In 2018, he was recognized as being an 80-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. With war simmering around the world, Clancy joined the Idaho National Guard in Rexburg on September 27, 1940. After completing training in Wyoming, Washington and Texas, Clancy’s 776 Tank Destroyer Battalion departed from New York on the 14th of January, 1943 and arrived in Casablanca, French Morocco, eleven days later. Late one evening in June of 1943, Clancy and two other men were returning to Headquarters Company under blackout conditions. They hit a sand dune that the wind had blown into the middle of the road. Clancy was thrown forward out of the command car and skidded face-first down on the road. When they were found, the three men were taken to the 32nd Station Hospital for treatment. There Clancy met a beautiful young nurse from Massachusetts. Her name was Velma Drolet. After Clancy was released from the hospital he came back to visit the Lieutenant who had nursed him. With the permission of their respective Colonels, they began to date. Both of their Army units were sent to Italy. They were married in Caserta, Italy on September 6, 1944, Clancy’s 30th birthday. Having a wedding in the middle of a war was no easy task, but the ingenuity of their Army colleagues knew no bounds. All their friends saved their rations and they were able to accumulate enough sugar and flour for a beautiful wedding cake that was baked by cooks from their units. Velma also had an elegant wedding gown made entirely from the parachute of a P-51 fighter pilot who had parachuted from his plane. The injured pilot had taken his parachute with him to the hospital and upon his release gave the parachute to her. The Italian aids at the field hospital turned it into a wedding gown. The couple then took a few days off from the war to honeymoon in Sorrento, Italy. Clancy was proud to have served with the fine men who were members of the 776th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Many members received individual medals for their brave actions in battle. Among other medals, Clancy received the Bronze Star with the Valor Device. After the end of the war Clancy and Velma returned to Rexburg and began a family. They moved to Arco, Idaho in 1951. Arco gave Clancy one of the most professionally interesting experiences of his career with Utah Power. The Atomic Energy Commission’s National Reactor Testing Station on the Arco desert was within his territory and he was responsible for maintaining certain power lines within the site. In 1955 the AEC and some of its contractors approached Utah Power about the possibility of lighting the City of Arco using power generated by a nuclear reactor. Clancy was assigned to cooperate with this effort and coordinate with Utah Power’s engineering department personnel. He was also assigned to flip the switch that would remove Arco from the Utah Power grid and place it on the feed from the nuclear generator. After receiving radio clearance from both Utah Power and the AEC he flipped the switch at around 10 pm on July 17, 1955 and Arco became the first city in the world to be lit using nuclear energy. In 1957, Clancy accepted a promotion and transfer to Rigby where he became the District Representative for Utah Power’s Jefferson County District. As in every city they lived, Clancy became very involved in the Rigby community. Over the years, Clancy served as the President of both the Arco and Rigby Rotary Clubs and President of both the Arco and Rigby Chambers of Commerce, he was Chairman of the Butte County School Board, and President of the Eastern Idaho Chamber of Commerce. Clancy was on the Board of Directors of the Idaho Easter Seal Society for many years and also served as its President. He was named Jefferson County’s Citizen of the Year for 1976. After his retirement in 1977, Clancy and Velma began traveling back to Massachusetts to visit Velma’s mother and other relatives and friends. Along the way they also visited their children and grandchildren who were now spread out around the United States. During this time they visited most of the National Parks in the United States and many state parks as well as 49 of the 50 states. For 18 years, they spent winters with their son Mike at his home in Phoenix. Their happiest times were when the children, grandchildren, great grandchildren and their extended family visited and they considered themselves blessed when they visited often. Until Velma’s illness prevented it, she and Clancy always returned for the summer and fall to their home in Rigby. Following Velma’s death in 2005, Clancy continued to stay with Mike in Phoenix, and finally at his home in Puerto Penasco, Mexico. Clancy was preceded in death by his wife Velma, his sister and brother-in-law Melba (Byrne) and Lee Jensen, his sister and brother-in-law Alta (Byrne) and Merle Fisher, his sister-in-law Clare Drolet, his sister-in law Olive (Drolet) Morin, his brother-in-law Budge Clay, and his daughter-in-law Leonora (Couvdos) Byrne. He is survived by his sister Lois (Byrne) Clay of Sugar City, Idaho, and his brother-in-law Armand Morin of Northbridge, Massachusetts. He is also survived by his five children and two daughters-in-law: Bill and Marilyn (Kent) Byrne of Bryan, Texas; Patricia Byrne of Chesapeake, Virginia; Jim Byrne of Charlotte, North Carolina; Mike Byrne of Puerto Penasco, Mexico and Tom and Kathy (Lowder) Byrne of Boise, Idaho as well as seven grandchildren and ten great grandchildren. There will be a Vigil Service on Friday, August 17 from 6:00pm to 8:00pm at Eckersell Memorial Chapel, 101 West Main, Rigby where the family will receive friends. The Funeral Service will be held Saturday, August 18 at 10:00am also at Eckersell’s. He will be laid to rest at Teton-Newdale Cemetery. In lieu of flowers donations may be sent to the: Clarence W. & Velma A. Byrne Scholarship Endowment in the College of Business; Idaho State University Foundation; Campus Box 8050, 921 South 8th Ave.; Pocatello, ID 83209.