Henry McClelland Lamberton III

Henry McClelland Lamberton July 16, 1923 – April 14, 2011 Henry McClelland Lamberton III, age 87, died Thursday, April 14, 2011, in Durango, CO. Services will be held at Woodlawn Cemetery in Winona, MN, on Saturday, July 30, 2011. Mr. Lamberton "Harry" was born July 16, 1923, in Winona, MN, the son of Henry and Gretchen Lamberton. Harry grew up in Winona and graduated from Lawrenceville Preparatory School in New Jersey. He attended Princeton University in 1941, but left in 1943 to join the US Marine Corps during WWII. He served as a drill instructor until he was assigned to the light cruiser U.S.S. Vincennes, where he saw continuous action with the Pacific fleet. He served as an antiaircraft gunnery control officer, attaining the rank of First Lieutenant, and received a Bronze Star for his leadership during several carrier strikes on the Japanese fleet in the Inland sea of Japan in March, 1945. He returned to Princeton after the war and graduated with a BS in Geology. He worked as a petroleum geologist in Wyoming for several years and left that field to manage and run his family's 500 acre row- crops and beef cattle farm in Peru, Ind. Harry loved working the land, both as a geologist and as a farmer. He and his beloved wife Joanna "Johnnie" left Indiana in 1968 and moved to Long Boat Key, FL, where Harry rehabilitated and ran a boat marina for several years. He and Johnnie were very involved in the Episcopal Church and the Art Guild in Long Boat Key. Harry had an inquisitive and adventurous spirit, and was always successfully tackling new projects. They moved to Red Lodge, MT, in the 1980s and spent a lot of time in a remote cabin Harry built outside Powell, WY. They relocated to Grand Junction, CO, in the mid-1990s, where Harry could always be found with a shovel in his hand, landscaping, gardening and enjoying the sunshine. He loved the outdoors, and was a voracious reader. He was an honorable man of immense integrity, a strong guardian and protector of his family and friends. He moved to Durango, CO, after the death of his wife to be near his daughter, Liz. He is survived by Liz and Bill Anderson (daughter and son-in-law) of Bayfield, CO; grandchildren, Jimmy Anderson, Lauren Melrose, Cole Dunlavey, Adam Dunlavey and Wilson Dunlavey, William I. Anderson and Jennifer Phegley; great grandchildren, Autumn Melrose, soon to be born Kahlan Melrose, Sara Anderson-Phegley and Jude Phegley. He was preceded in death by his wife, Johnnie; his daughters, Dare Dunlavey and Sara Anderson, and two infant children.