Clarence Leinweber

Clarence L Leinweber went "west of the Guadalupe" on July 1, 2020. He was born in Hunt, TX on March 28, 1924 to Clarence Leonard Leinweber and Audrey Marie Harper. He was raised on a ranch near Mountain Home, TX. His mother home schooled his brother, Charles, and him until they were able to walk to the one room Divide Schoolhouse. He loved to look up at the moon and dream of putting a man on the moon. He loved Scouting and earned his eagle in 1939. Clarence had a lifelong love of learning. He graduated from Tivy High at age 15 and then worked on the ranch until he was 18 and could enroll at AMC of Texas (Texas A&M University) Class of '46.\r\n\r\nHis education in aeronautical engineering was disrupted by WWII. He desperately wanted to be a pilot but color blindness got him into the infantry. He served in Patton's III army corps Yankee Division and was at the Battle of the Bulge and the relieving of Bastogne. He earned the bronze star while there. (More of his story can be found at https://www.theeagle.com/veterans/clarence-leinweber-wwii-veteran/article_f57d302c-c37c-11e9-a0ec-7bba758e2db1.html). After coming home in 1946 he started school again and completed his degree in 1949. He married Katherine Inez McNeill on September 4, 1949 and they headed to California for his job at Aerojet Propulsion Laboratories. During their time in California, Katherine "Chatter" and he had three daughters: Katina "Tina", Kathy Marie and Kerry Lynn. The next move was to Fort Worth and Convair. Five years later the family headed for Seattle and Boeing. Clarence worked on Saturn and Titan rockets while there. In 1966, the family moved to Cocoa Beach where he worked for NASA at Cape Canaveral on the mobile launching pad used to send a man to the moon. Mission accomplished the whole group moved back to Seattle. He lost Katherine to a stroke in 1978. He retired in 1987.\r\n\r\nHe married Mary Lou Kurrus in 1981 and they spent time between Seattle and Phoenix eventually settling in Peoria as a permanent home enjoying traveling the world together and with their grown children. Area events, Salvation Army, Kiwanas and gardening also kept him busy. Mary Lou passed away on July 4, 2015. Clarence continued to live in Peoria until 2017 when he moved to College Station, TX to be closer to Tina. In January of 2020, 80 years after he received his eagle at Scout Court he gave the eagle to his great-grandson, Trevor at his.\r\n\r\nClarence is preceded in death by his mother and father, his two wives, his brother Charles Lee Leinweber (Jean Cunningham) and brother Donald Harper Leinweber. He is survived by his daughters Tina Hanna (Jim), Kathy Marie McNeill (Lance Bowman) and Kerry Lynn Culp (Lew); grandchildren: Gillian Smith (Wayne), Erin Hart (Darren), Robert Andrews (Emily), and Dave Andrews; 12 great grandchildren and numerous nieces and nephews.\r\n\r\nHe had a wonderful life and is now at peace. The family would like to thank the Carriage Inn staff, Home Instead caregivers, St. Joseph Hospital and Hospice Brazos Valley for the loving care that was given to him. \r\n\r\nThe private graveside service will be held in Kerrville, TX. \r\n\r\nThe family gratefully suggests memorials be sent to Hospice Brazos Valley 502 W. 26th St. Bryan, TX 77803 or your local hospice.\r\n