A beautiful photo of Gene and daughter Linda Gail.(above left)                                 A photo of Gene and Linda Gail I took in Cleveland, Texas in 1981. (above right).

A July 1967  Polaroid of Gene.                                                                              A photo of Gene, Linda Gail and Grandma Heller.

Uncle Gene (as I knew him) was a character of sorts.  I didn't know him all that well because he lived in Texas most of the period when I was growing up.  He was a giant of a man, at least to me as a child.  The largest of the Clankie brothers, Gene was driving a wrecker in 1981 when I saw him in Texas.  At breakfast one morning in a Cleveland coffee shop uncle Gene had some type of walkie-talkie with which he was hijacking wrecker calls from other wreckers with.  I found this very amusing at the time.  I remember uncle Gene staying a few days with my family in the early 80s and remember him once winning $500 on an instant lottery ticket.  The story we were told as children (which I suspect is more myth than anything) was that uncle Gene once tried out as a professional wrestler but wasn't hired because his hands in particular were too strong.  That's the way I remember the story at least. 

According to my family, Gene had been married to Nancy, then Jeanine, then Linda. His obituary also shows he married Barbara Evans.

  The following description was given by his daughter Linda Gail Brumbaugh (Clankie).  

He was a great man.  When he passed he was 6 foot 4 and 340 pounds.  He actually died from his heart failure.  The diabetes did take a lot away from him but his heart was really weak.  He also had a brain aneurism.  I had taken him to the doctor the Friday before he died and then he went in for an open MRI the Tuesday before he passed and they were going to do surgery the following week to remove the clot.  At that time it was in the back of his neck and within 2 days had moved to his brain.  On the death certificate it states cause of death was his heart.  But I would not allow an autopsy to be performed so I signed stating that it was heart failure and the time of death was 7:30 am which is when he was found.  He was not actually married when he passed.  His last wife was my mom Linda and they was divorced when I was about 3 years old.  I was the only child he had after he left Illinois. Growing up he was a Honorary chief of police for Cleveland and a wrecker driver for years.  He also owned a game room, auction, movie theater and his own wrecker company and junk yard.  When he became ill he owned a truck stop…all of this was in Cleveland.  He started becoming very ill in 1991. He had a quadruple bypass and after dad had his surgery he still continued to have a lot of issues with his heart.   They told me in 1992 that he would be lucky to live six months and he fought until 2001.  He was a very independent man.  He had a heart of gold and would help anyone and give the shirt off of his back to help.  But a very stern man with a lot of anger issues but I still loved him very much.  After he and my mother divorced he had a couple of girlfriends, but his real love was a lady named Joyce that he met when I was 6 and they took off to Illinois together when Sharon’s husband Tom passed away.  He stayed there for a year and then came back to Texas.  They were together till 1985 which is when my dad started having issues and she and met Barbara Evans which was his girlfriend when he passed away.  They did not live together when he passed because my dad was a very strict man .  Anyway I could go on and on for hours about him.  As you can tell I was a daddy’s girl….big time! 

A photo of Gene with his first wife Nancy and family.

A photo of Gene with father Earl Clankie and Barbara Evans.

Eugene C. Clankie 32 married Linda R. Cox 28 on Feb. 19, 1969 in Harris County, Texas (Record number 13352)
 
Social Security Death Record
E C CLANKIE 27 Jun 1936 11 Jan 2001 77327 (Cleveland, Liberty, TX) (none specified) Illinois

4-2 Sharon Irene (Clankie) (Buker) Ellington, 65  (March 19, 1944-Sept. 5, 2009)

Above: Two early photos of Sharon Clankie. These photos were part of a box of photos that belonged to Gene Clankie and that were kept by her daughter Linda Gail.

Below: A 1981 Photo of Sharon Clankie at her home near Waxahachie, Texas.

  I only remember meeting Sharon once growing up. My brother and I were invited on a family trip with our cousins to stay at Sharon's house for Christmas 1981.  The unique thing about this trip though was that the movie Tender Mercies was being filmed at her house. I remember sitting in the kitchen and remaining silent while filming was taking place in the living room. In the evenings after the film crew had quit for the evening we would have dinner and then play Uno. The photo shows the Uno set on the table.

 Sharon married Thomas James Buker, who was born in Winnebago County, Illinois on September 24, 1928, and he died on September 1, 1980 in Ellis County, Texas. She then married Timothy G. Ellington.in Texas on December 13, 1983.

Social Security Death Index

Sharon Irene Buker 19 Mar 1944 05 Sep 2009 77327 Cleveland, Liberty, TX Illinois 

Thomas Buker 24 Sep 1928 Sep 1980 Illinois

BERTIS G. 'BERT' CAREY, 78 MACHESNEY PARK - Bertis G. "Bert" Carey, 78, of Machesney Park died Thursday, July 14, 2011, in Rockford Memorial Hospital, after a sudden illness. Born Dec. 12, 1932, in Rockford, the son of Francis and Ruth (Andree) Carey. Bert worked at Williams Ford for many years, and then was self-employed at a salvage yard. Bert is lovingly survived by his wife of 58 years, Joanne Carey; daughter, Debra Carey; sons, Bradley (Candy), Mark (Shelby) and Kelly (Lisa) Carey; grandchildren, Cory Sue Ellen Sparks, Joe Hollenstein, Stephanie Carey and Kristin Carey; seven great-grandchildren; sister, Marlene Scanland; and brothers, Ron and Harlan Carey. Predeceased by parents; and sister, Artis Schroeder. Private graveside service in Winnebago Cemetery. Arrangements by Genandt Funeral Home, 602 N. Elida St., Winnebago. RRStar July 16, 2011

Last updated: January 1, 2012