Clarence "Clair" Charles Loose Jr's Obituary
Clair Loose broke our hearts by departing this mortal life early and without saying good-bye on September 21, 2024. Clair was born August 9, 1931, in the Charles Edwin Loose family home, which still stands at 383 E. 200 S. in Provo, Utah. His mother Pearl Dahle Loose quickly named him after his father, Clarence Charles Loose, Sr., (nicknamed “Bid”) fearing that he would not survive as both the pregnancy and birth had been extremely difficult. He proved his mom wrong, living 93 years!
In October 1934, at the age of three, his parents separated. Pearl initially moved back in with her mother Pearl Victoria and stepfather Frank Birch in Eureka, Utah, before moving in with Bid’s sister Faye in Salt Lake City while she began to support herself and her only child in the midst of the Great Depression. Bid and Pearl were formally divorced in February 1935. Pearl was shortly thereafter remarried to Brigham Young Hardy (nicknamed “Brig”), a grandson of Brigham Young, in November 1936.
Clair greatly disliked his given name, Clarence Charles Loose, Jr., so he shortened “Clarence” to “Clair.” Given the physical and emotional absence of his father during his formative years (and essentially his whole life) and the resulting anger, he used Brig’s last name, “Hardy,” growing up. Thus, most of his childhood, Bryant Jr. High, and West High School friends knew and loved him as “Clair Hardy” or “Clair the Bear.”
The divorce and solitude growing up as an only child and latchkey kid had a lasting impact on Clair, although very few recognized it as Clair appeared to always be in good spirits and “the life of the party.” He was talented artistically and musically. He drew beautifully, could sing, dance, play bass and piano. In his 20’s he was a member of a jazz quartet. He was an entertainer who would have everyone in stitches wherever he went. He loved big band and jazz music, specifically the old variety of jazz, definitely not free jazz. His favorite pianists were Art Tatum and Oscar Peterson.
After graduating from West High School in 1949, he attended the University of Utah briefly. He was a hard worker his whole life. He bulked up working construction; learned how to place letters and make graphics working for the State of Utah building road signs, worked for the Southern Pacific Railroad in the office responsible for shipping freight, and even did a stint “working for the devil” as he would put it, in reference to a sales job with Winston-Salem Tobacco Co. That sales job led to a job with Alberto-Culver and paved the way into pharmaceutical sales. He was first with Dome Laboratories, then Miles Laboratories, then Bayer Pharmaceuticals, and finally HollisterStier, the Allergy Division of Bayer, as each company got swallowed up by a larger one. With the exception of his position with HollisterStier, which required relocating to Phoenix, all of the jobs were centered in Utah. However, he traveled a great deal, often being away from home every other week. Due to the travel requirements for his full-time job, including travel on weekends, he had to give up his service in the Utah National Guard. For Dome and Miles, he called on doctors, pharmacists, and hospitals in five western states.
Although not extremely tall, Clair was as strong as an ox and very athletic. He swam, dove, waterskied, ran track, golfed, hunted, fished, and rode horses, dirt bikes, road bikes, and bicycles. His favorite sport however was flying. He started taking lessons in the 1960s and eventually bought a plane, a Cessna 172, which he christened “Betsy Lu.” He flew Betsy Lu well into his 80s.
Clair was briefly married in 1949 to Leora Sorenson. Leora gave birth to a beautiful baby girl named Jan. Unfortunately, Clair followed in his father’s footsteps and was not involved in his daughter’s life until 2024. Jan lives in Washington, Utah. Jan has two sons, Nicholas R. Larson and T.J. Larson. Nicholas is married to Kristen. They have Tinsley, Teagan, and Tatum. They live in Washington, Utah. T.J. and Maigan have Presley Davis, Jovi, and Everly. They make their home in Eagle Mountain, Utah.
In July 1952, Clair married Virginia Christopulos in Jackson Hole at the Church of the Transfiguration. They were married 40 years until her death in April 1993. They had two sons together, Wallace Blair Loose (Wally) and Dan Warren Loose. Wally died of a heart arrythmia in September 1975. He was 22, never married, and had no children. Dan and his wife Evelyn have four children, Jake, Sophia, Zac, and Ben Loose. They live in Bountiful, Utah.
The death of Wally in 1975 was a wake-up call for Clair and the whole family, for that matter. It resulted in an examination of their respective lives. Life’s big questions were posed, “Who am I? Why am I here/what is the purpose of it all? Is this day-to-day existence all there is? Where do I find meaning to life? Why do I sense that there is more? Is there a God? And why do I keep messing up my life?” The introspective look was hard. It eventually resulted in an about face and a new Captain in the driver’s seat in Clair’s life--Jesus Christ. Life with Clair became much, much better for those closest to him. He finally found a father who really loved him unconditionally—warts and all. It was just taking time for him (like it does most of us) to fully embrace that message, i.e., get the message to travel those 18 incredibly long inches from his head to his heart.
The latter 1970s and 1980s, Clair continued working in the pharmaceutical industry in Utah and later in Phoenix. He and Virginia somehow enjoyed the sweltering heat in the Valley of the Sun. On retirement at the age of 59, they moved back to the family home in Farmington, Utah. Unfortunately, life in retirement with Virginia only lasted about three years. Like Wally, she succumbed to a heart arrythmia in April 1993.
After Virginia’s death Clair married Lavon Symes in 1994. Lavon and Clair moved to St. George. That relationship ended in divorce. Clair later married Anna Marie Hodges of Hurricane. That, too, ended in divorce.
Since 2017, Clair has been living close to Dan, Evelyn, and his grandchildren in Bountiful. He remained active, working part-time for Dan at his office performing property management tasks. He rode his 1500 Kawasaki, Honda ATVs, and drove his car until shortly before his death. He would join Dan and his family several times a week for meals and on Sunday for pancake breakfast before church. He would go to the jazz club with friends to listen to live jazz performances on Friday or Saturday evenings. He loved taking long drives to get out of the house. He liked to take friends out to lunch or dinner. He had been looking forward to our annual family vacation in McCall, Idaho in August, but fell and tore his hamstring. Sadly, as is so often the case, that fall was the beginning of the final chapter of his life, which Evelyn and the other caregivers worked tirelessly to make comfortable for him. Our sincerest thanks go out to each of them!
We miss him greatly. And we are mad at him for the way he left and for not saying good-bye. We wish we could hug him one more time.
A memorial service for Clair will be held 11:00 on Saturday, October 5th 2024, at The Bridge Community Church which is located off I-15’s Parrish Lane/Centerville exit (#319) at 1284 W. 75 N. in Centerville, UT 84014.
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