Robert Ray Clement

Robert Ray Clement, 90, passed away at his home in Lynchburg on Sunday afternoon February 13, 2011. Born September 30, 1920 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he was the son of the late Millard Fane Clement and Marietta Ray Clement of Whitefield, New Hampshire. He is survived by his beloved and devoted wife of 67 years, Janet Sutherland Clement, along with his five children, nineteen grandchildren, and six great grandchildren.

At age four Robert\"™s family moved to Middletown, New York where he grew up involved in Boy Scouting with his father and younger brother. He attained the rank of Eagle Scout in 1937 and graduated from Middletown High School in 1939. As an older teenager he was devoted to the restoration of his Model T Ford which he drove around town unknowingly attracting the attention of his future wife!

Robert graduated in 1943 from Cornell University with the Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1943 he was commissioned in the US Navy, training at MIT and Harvard radar schools and at AT&T in New York City, after which he served as a Radar Instructor at the Pearl Harbor Naval Radar Center. From 1944 to 1945 he served in Radar Maintenance with the Third Fleet aboard the battleship USS Washington in the Pacific Theater, attaining the rank of Lieutenant before his honorable discharge in 1946.

Robert married his Cornell sweetheart, Janet Elizabeth Sutherland, on January 1, 1944, prior to his tour of duty aboard the USS Washington.

Following WWII, Robert was employed by General Electric Company in Syracuse, New York. In 1946 he began his employment with GE as a Marine Radar Design Engineer, testing and perfecting commercial radar navigation aboard the big ore ships that operated on the Great Lakes. From 1952 to 1954 he worked in Mobile Radio Design, and then became involved at the forefront of integrated circuits development, directing transistor design of semiconductor products from 1954 to 1960. General Electric transferred him to Lynchburg, Virginia in 1960 to manage Microwave Radio Relay Engineering. In 1971 he became Product Service Manager of GE\"™s Power Line Carrier operations in Lynchburg.

Following his 38-year service with General Electric, his 1984 retirement was short lived. He formed his own company, Power Line Carrier (PLC), and for the next eighteen years he provided consulting services, training, and troubleshooting to electric power utilities throughout the United States.

During his life Robert was a member of First Baptist Church of Middletown NY, First Presbyterian Church of Syracuse NY, and First Presbyterian Church of Lynchburg VA, having served as Sunday School teacher, deacon and elder. Into his eighties he enjoyed hiking in the Blue Ridge Mountains, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the Green Mountains of Vermont. He was an expert in the restoration and operation of antique calendar clocks. Most of all, he will be forever remembered by his grandchildren as an expert in providing always-creative, full of antics, good old-fashioned fun.

In addition to his wife Janet, Robert is survived by his five children: son Jonathan Whitehill Clement and wife Stephanie of Detroit MI, daughter Barbara Clement Storey and husband Martin of Greenville SC, daughter Priscilla Clement Johnson and husband David of Lynchburg VA, son David Sutherland Clement and wife Judithann of Waynesboro PA, and daughter Martha Clement McDonough and husband Steve of Staunton VA, as well as nineteen grandchildren: Catherine Clement Galardo, Jonathan Whitehill Clement, Jr., Melanie Elizabeth Clement, Christopher Robert Clement, Margaret Lonsdale Clement, Emily Storey Hess, Matthew Clement Storey, Caitlin Storey Hunter, Theresa Lauraine Clement, Paul Augustus Clement, Jessica Eileen Clement, James David Sutherland Clement, Laura Elizabeth Clement, Robert Charles Clement, Luke Alexander Clement, Maria Judithann Clement, Thomas Joseph Clement, Steven Tyler McDonough, and Blair Elizabeth McDonough. He is also survived by six great-grandchildren:  Brandon Galardo, Gabriella Diane Galardo, Alyssa Christine Galardo, Christian James Clement, Hannah Catherine Hess, and Sophia Storey Hess. In addition, he is survived by sisters-in-law Priscilla Alden Clement Rice and Lois Sutherland Johnston, brother-in-law James Stewart Johnston, and their children. Robert was preceded in death by his parents, his brother Gordon Millard Clement and nephew John Alden Clement.

A funeral service will be held Friday, February 18, 2011 at 2:00 pm at Tharp Funeral Home, 220 Breezewood Drive, Lynchburg, with the Rev. John Scholer officiating.  Military honors will be performed by the American Legion Post # 16.  A visitation will precede the service at the funeral home, from 12:30 to 2:00 pm.  Memorial contributions may be made to the Presbyterian Children\"™s Home, 150 Linden Avenue, Lynchburg, Virginia 24503.



Tharp Funeral Home & Crematory, Lynchburg, is assisting the family, 434-237-9424.  Condolences may be sent to the family by visiting www.obituaries.tharpfuneralhome.com.