Clarence Hill passed away on Thursday, the 15th of May, 2008. He hadn't been eating for a week or more and entered the hospital after loosing a sizable amount of weight. Although his heart surgery a few months earlier had been successful, everyone suspected that his symptoms may have had something to do with the operation. Tests were run, but everything came out negative. Clarence, being who he was, maintained that confident and witty personality of his, and in his own way he tried not to make his family and friends worry. He was ready to be released to go home on Friday but Thursday night he started coughing up some dark substance, indicating that the situation had gotten much worse. Clarence Hill passed away that evening. Experiencing only a minimal amount of pain (considering the situation), he had previously decided not to return home, and his family had been by his side the entire time.

Clarence had made it to 90 plus years. In 1918, he was born in Chicago to immigrant parents from Finland. The original family name from the old country was "Wanatello". They changed their name to “Hill” in the 1930s. I think this was to fit into the melting pot of what America was all about at the time, or maybe it was to distance themselves from the mob, who were Italian as well (not that there is anything wrong with being Italian ...just joking). Clarence graduated from High School in 1935 and went to work in a Tool and Die shop as a machinist. He made his first visit to California in 1937, and a love affair between Clarence and the Golden State had begun. Upon returning to Chicago, he went to work for ...are you ready? - "The Automatic Screw Company"! While working for the screw company he lived at the YMCA, paying $3.00 a week to stay there.

It was at roughly this point in time that Clarence joined the Army for two years, but his military career was short lived because he had injured his shoulder in some kind of training exercise. After the military he went into the liquor business, working at the "Bars Liquor Store", which had a five stool bar and sold packaged liquor as well. During the next couple of years he met, fell in love with, and married the woman of his dreams. Ilene would spend the rest of her life with Clarence. They had children and enjoyed a fairly comfortable life for themselves. But in 1955 the "California Bug" again took a chunk out of Clarence's butt, and they would finally move to California where they would stay for the rest of their lives. Having had experience in the liquor business, Clarence opened up a liquor store of his own in what is now Valencia. It was called "Laramie Liquor". He stayed on as owner/operator until 1978, when he retired from the 60 hour a week work schedule that the one man operation required. He did work at "Fedco" for a few years after he retired, but only part time. I think he was a greeter, and I'm sure he was very good at it.

I don't know when he discovered his first radio. I do know that he had always been a tinkerer and whether it was mechanical or electric, it all interested Clarence. He loved gadgets, researching them, and figuring out how they worked. In the late 70s I was still working at Sears as a T.V. Tech, but I too had discovered old radios at this time, and was doing repairs for other people so I could rationalize to my wife the money I was spending on buying radios for myself. This was where Clarence came into my life. A very jolly, nice, intelligent guy, he would end up being my friend (and in some ways a mentor) for more than 30 years.

Clarence collected only the best radios. He would buy and sell just like the rest of us, but mostly he loved the interaction with buyers who came up to his table at swap meets, or with others he ran into at meets or garage sales. He loved the hunt, as well as applying the ensuing TLC so he could really feel he was part of the piece. His final touch was the research and history of the radio, speaker, or tube he had just acquired. His age never slowed him down. He was a joiner, too. As a membership officer of the SCARS club for more than one term, he would always be there to help with the paperwork at the auction and at the meets [you could ALWAYS count on Clarence]. While his wife Ilene was still with him, she too was very active alongside Clarence at club events. He was the person who did all the dealings with the church where we had the auction for all those years. He would make several trips to the church before and during the weekend of the event to make sure everything ran smoothly. Clarence volunteered himself and his wife to be the “coffee & donuts couple” for the Southern California Antique Radio Fest meets up at Travel Village, and then later on at the church, too. He did this for the entire 10 years SCARF was putting on meets.

Every Monday for the past 20 years, Clarence would call me at my store and say "Are you ready for some Starbucks, Jerry?". And of course I would say “Yes, come on up”. He would bring two cups of Starbucks coffee and some kind of lemon roll or something. We'd chat a little, and then he'd say “there’s a radio in the back of the van that I picked up at a garage sale over the weekend, could you go get it and take a look at it?" He hadn't been coming in as often for the last two years or so, but he was up here just three weeks ago, bringing me an Airline brand radio in need of some minor repair. I emailed him about ten days later to notify him that it was finished, but I was told that he was in the hospital and that they would keep me informed. You know the rest.

He was a friend to me and to everyone, as well as to SCARS, and an example for all of us. Clarence, I'll miss you.