Jim-Cleere-Obituary

Jim Cleere

Newton, Iowa

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Newton, Iowa

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'Good Man.' Good Voice.
That October night in 1977, Jean Rieger, a divorced mother with a 10-year-old daughter, got down on her knees and prayed to God to send her "a good man" to marry.

When she got up, the phone rang. On the other end was Jim Cleere, a divorced father of two sons, ages 12 and 10.

They married one year later.

Mr. Cleere, vice president of Seabury & Smith, a division of Marsh & McLennan, was in New York Sept. 11 for a meeting at the insurance brokerage firm on the 96th floor of 1 World Trade Center. Mr. Cleere, 55, was across the street at the Marriott Hotel when the first plane struck the north tower. He called his wife at their home in Newton, Iowa. They were on the phone when the second plane struck the south tower.

"He said he was O.K. and would be coming home," said Jean Cleere. "That was our last conversation."

Mrs. Cleere says her husband was a man of faith. "He had a deep, rich baritone and sang all the time," she said, mostly the old- time hymns.

She loved that voice of his. That's why she hasn't changed her answering machine tape. It has Mr. Cleere's voice on it.

Guest Book

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Jean and family,
Jim was a great colleague, friend, and mentor. He was truly a man of faith. I recall being on the phone with other colleagues on that fateful day, Jim headed from the Marriott to the towers to help save unknown people. Its how he was. Suddenly the phone went dead, days later we learned that he has given his life to selflessly save complete strangers.
Over the last 20yrs there has been nary a day he has not been in my thoughts, a man of true faith who would do...

Remembering Jim on the 20th anniversary of 9/11...

Praying today for Jim's family. We will never forget that day when you lost him. May God grant you a special blessing today as we pause to pray for strength and encouragement.

Sending our continued heartfelt condolences to your family for your loss of Jim. May God continue to give the needed strength and comfort with each new day. He touched the lives of others and will always be lovingly remembered. May the time soon come when the violence that robs families of each other will finally be a thing of the past.

My name is Pamela Jean Cleere and I ran across this information.
I never knew until today that a Cleere was lost in this tragedy. My father is George Marvin Cleere, Grand Parent George Lester Cleere, Great Grand Parents Absolute Cleere and
George Robert "Bob" Cleere, Great Great Grand Parents, Charles Chiles Cleere, and Great Great Great Grand Parent Thomas E. Cleere born June 27, 1777 in Virginia. This is the line I am in.

Please accept my deepest compassion for your loss.
...

So sorry for your lost. It is very difficult to lose a love one. There are Satisfying answers to life big questions. please read Proverbs 119:105

hi mr cleere I have come to know your son scott since 9/11 we both lost someone important to us .. I think about you often and of course scott I don't need today to remember you I hope you rip my deepest condolences

What a great man. I hope you are singing in Heaven! I will never forget you telling me that you were going to New York and warning me to take a friend if I ever go because it's not too safe. All the talking I did about Mike Piazza who would have thought that he would be attending a Memorial to you and all the other victim's of 911 at Shay Stadium! what an emotional Ceremony with American Flags, Fighter Jets, Bag Pipes and a lot of Heart Broken people who will never forget what happened that...

To the Cleere Family,
I am a native of Newton and now live in Davenport. But at the time of 2001 I was still in Newton a young women. My brother had the pleasure of actually knowing Jim from a play where Jim was the baseball annocer. I had the pleasure of meeting Jean one evening in the lobby of the newton theather. She and I shared a bench and a converstation in which she told me her husband had passed away and when I asked how she replied "she wasn't sure excatly but he had been in...