A Tribute to My Grandpa

I returned home to California last Tuesday. Before leaving for Israel in January, I visited with my grandpa who had been in bed the previous few days, not feeling well. His cancer had progressed to bone cancer and we expected he would soon go to be with Jesus. He had talked about it for so long. I remember him telling my family about his soon departure when I was still in high school. In February, I learned in Israel that his conditioned had seriously worsened and his dying was imminent. On Saturday afternoon (4/7/2007), Bill Clutterham, my grandpa, began to live in the presence of Jesus.

In this life, he was a hero...not just to me but to this country (as a pilot of a B-17 flying fortress in the Pacific campaign of WWII and as captain and chaplain of the Los Angeles County Fire Department for over 30 years) and to all who knew him. He is a hero to me mostly because of his example of living by faith and proclamation of the gospel to everyone he knew. He wasn't privileged to become a Christian as young person but when he did, he followed Jesus closely to the end.

I will keep this brief because I am returning to Israel later tonight and there is much to do. In recent weeks, the Antelope Valley Press has published articles on my grandpa which can be found with the following links: 1, 2.

Here are a few pictures of my grandpa: