Claude Clouse

1927 - 2015

(News story) BOWLING GREEN - Claude C. Clouse, a retired Bowling Green police sergeant with a no-nonsense outlook who developed a specialty as an arson investigator, died Monday in Brookdale Bowling Green, a care facility. He was 88.

He'd been in declining health after a fall at home in June, his wife, Lois, said.

When Mr. Clouse retired in May, 1991, after 34 years with the Bowling Green police division, only one officer had served longer, the 39-year veteran he replaced.

"I never gave any thought to being here this many years," Mr. Clouse told The Blade. "I just consider myself a good steady worker. If I hadn't stayed busy, I wouldn't have stayed here. ... If I had to do it again, I'd join the police department."

Mr. Clouse at retirement was the only Bowling Green police officer certified as an arson investigator.

"He'd get called out sometimes in the middle of the night," his wife said. "He never complained."

He also was in charge of the police evidence room and supervised records and dispatch bureaus.

After retiring, he for a time continued to assist Wood County's arson task force and sheriff's deputies, his wife said.

When he started, no training was required of Bowling Green police, Mr. Clouse told The Blade in 1991.

On his first day, he was sworn in, given a gun and a badge, and put on the street with another officer. It was 17 years before the department sent him for training, although he'd taken courses on his own by then.

Officers early on did not communicate by radio, using a call box at Main and Wooster streets to reach police headquarters.

"You'd spend the night walking the alleys, checking the front and back doors," Mr. Clouse said in 1991.

Out-of-town traffic, heavy at times, also met at Main and Wooster - at the time, U.S. 25 and U.S. 6. Criminals passed through as well, stopping on occasion to steal cars.

"When I came here, if they tried to run on us, we'd shoot on them. That was the old days," Mr. Clouse said in 1991. "The law says you can't do that any more. We chased a few escapees from the penitentiary at high speeds."

He had a reputation for being stern on the job, and not just with outlaws.

"Somebody said if his own mother crossed the street, she'd get arrested for jay-walking," his wife said. "He was from the old school. He believed in doing right."

Former police Chief Galen Ash said Wednesday night, "He was kind of a rough and tough guy, but down deep he was sensitive and loved kids.''

He was born July 12, 1927, to Bernice and Claude H. Clouse. His father was superintendent of the Cygnet municipal power and water plant and later owned a television and radio sales and service store in Findlay.

Mr. Clouse graduated from Cygnet School in 1946. Afterward, he served in the Army for two years.

Before joining the Bowling Green police, Mr. Clouse worked for the state highway department and the former Rossford Ordnance Depot.

He liked to hunt - pheasant around northwest Ohio; deer in Michigan.

Every Wednesday for several years, he and several former police comrades went golfing. He and his wife liked to camp at Harrison Lake.

Surviving is his wife, the former Lois Feeback, whom he married July 11, 1953.

Services will be at 11 a.m. today in the Dunn Funeral Home, Bowling Green.

The family suggests tributes to Hospice of Northwest Ohio.

This story was written by Blade Staff Writer Mark Zaborney. Contact him at: mzaborney@theblade.com or 419-724-6182.