Clair W. Colburn

1921 - 2008

WOODHULL - Clair W. Colburn, 87, Woodhull, died Wednesday (April 16, 2008) at Seminary Manor, Galesburg. Service will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Bethany Lutheran Church, Woodhull. Burial will be in Woodhull Cemetery. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today at Peterson Wallin Knox Funeral Home, Woodhull, where memorials may be left to Bethany Lutheran Church or AlWood Academic Foundation. Online condolences may be made at www.petersonwallinknox.com.
He was born Feb. 25, 1921, near Woodhull, a son of Roy and Minnie Johnson Colburn. He attended Woodhull schools and married Doris Genevieve Strand on June 2, 1946, in Woodhull. She died Nov. 4, 2005.
Clair was a lifetime farmer in the Woodhull area and his memberships include Bethany Lutheran Church, where he was a former Council Member, Sunday school superintendent and junior choir director, and the Henry County Farm Bureau. He was a former member of the Woodhull Lions Club, the Woodhull Cemetery Board and served on the AlWood School Board.
Clair's love for music and singing began when he sang duets with his mother at an early age. Throughout his life, he enjoyed singing, having been a member of the Galva Barbershop Chorus, the Bethany Men's Quartet and the Trailblazers Barber Shop Quartet, a quartet he was especially proud of that featured he and his sons. He sang for hundreds of funerals and weddings in the area and was a member of Bethany Lutheran Church Choir for more than 70 years.
He enjoyed playing cards and being with his family, especially his grandchildren.
Survivors include two daughters, Connie (Monty) Bolduc of Woodhull and Luann Colburn of Alpha; three sons, Dennis (Patty) Colburn of Woodhull and Gene (Barb) Colburn and Kevin (Kim) Colburn, both of Alpha; 10 grandchildren; one great-grandson; nieces and nephews; and special caregivers Edna Price, Lorraine Anderson and Janice Spivey.
His parents, wife and brother Earl preceded him in death.