Clyde E. Yohey

CLYDE  E.  YOHEY

Clyde Eugene Yohey, age 86, 560 Montour Blvd., Bloomsburg, died at 12:25 p. m. Wednesday, September 7, 2011 at the Columbia Montour Home Hospice At Maria Hall, Danville, where he had been a guest for four days.

Born on October 16, 1924 in New Columbus, Luzerne County, he was a son of the late George Wilson and Elsie (Keller) Yohey. He was raised primarily in the rural area behind Mifflinville.  

Clyde was a 1942 graduate of the former Mifflinville High School and a 1951 graduate of the former Bloomsburg State Teachers College.

He served as a member of the Intelligence Reconnaisance Division of the US Army during World War II in the Pacific Theatre from 1942 to 1945.

A contractor who built more than 300 homes in the area, Clyde created distinctive residences in his Scenic Knolls, Hillside Estates and Wonderview developments. In the 1950's and 1960's, he designed features such as massive fireplaces and wide chimneys, and his floor plans included stonework he laid himself. In addition to homes, he also designed and built a drive-in theater in Linden, the Nescopeck Post Office, a church, and some area bridges including the first pre-stressed concrete bridge in the United States near Rohrsburg. The Wonderview Ski Lodge was built and operated by Clyde, who spent many cold winters making snow.

Along with his wife, the former Joan Boyer, he owned and operated the Stone Castle Motel in Montour Township. He began construction in 1957 and opened for business in 1958. A restaurant and additional rooms, totaling 84, were later completed. The erection of a stone "castle" tower in the middle of the pool and the positioning of a PT trainer (airplane) on the roof were eye-catching features. In its heyday, the motel housed celebrities such as Dale Robertson, Jimmy Dean, Anita Bryant, Brenda Lee, the Lennon Sisters, the Osmond Brothers and Three Dog Night. The motel thrived for many years. With the opening of Route I-80, traffic slowed. In later years, the motel turned primarily to weekly and monthly rentals. Although this can no longer be motel policy, for over half a century countless people were given free lodging long after initial payments from area agencies ran out.

Clyde spent his lifetime regularly attending the  Mifflinville United Methodist Church. He taught Sunday School classes  and was instrumental in the actual labor of construction and remodeling  projects, including the building of the parsonage.

Clyde believed that people should be able to share in christian fellowship. For many years he and his wife hosted an annual  Christmas dinner for the Sunday School at a local restaurant. He also enjoyed having the Gideons come to the motel for summer picnics including good bluegrass music in his airplane hangar. He continued to visit friends in nursing homes even after he could no longer drive himself. In his quiet way, he did what he could for others.

In addition to being a Gideon, he also was a member of the Mifflinville Lions Club for many years. His service included building a pavilion in the Mifflinville Park. Clyde received a plaque honoring him for meritorious service.

Clyde thrived on seeing productive results of his labors. Although work took up most of his time, he did enjoy his hobby of flying his airplanes. Many times cars would pull over on Route 11 to watch him take off or land on his private airstrip. He began flying a Piper Cub and later owned a Tri-Pacer and two Navions. The first Navion was transporting 850 Gideon Bibles to York when it went up in flames at the Bloomsburg Airport. Undaunted he purchased a second Navion. A longtime member of the American Navion Society, he flew his Navion to National Navion Conventions all over the continental United States and Canada, where he routinely earned first place trophies for his abilities as a pilot. All-out speed races in his division were his specialty, although he sometimes won trophies in the proficiency or efficiency categories.. He won the top overall national trophy in Horseshoe Bend, Arkansas. Clyde enjoyed taking family members to all 48 of the continental United States. He thought the seats of his airplane should always be full, resulting in rides for nearly everyone who wanted to join him in the joy of the skies.

Clyde was able to fly his airplane to his townhouse, across from the airport, in Venice, Florida, where he spent twenty winters in a pleasant climate: enjoying nature, riding his bicycle, and fixing things for his neighbors. He encouraged everyone he knew to stay at his town house whether or not he was there.

In addition to his parents, he was also preceded in death by two sisters: Melva Bunge, Espy and Nellie Bodnar, Berwick.

Surviving are his wife Joan, with whom he celebrated 62 years of marriage on May 28, 2011; two daughters: Linda, wife of Jerry Sheeler, Mifflinville and Debbi Yohey, East Stroudsburg; two sons: David Yohey, and his wife Sue and John Yohey, and his wife Angela,  Bloomsburg; a granddaughter, Danielle DiNaro, East Stroudsburg; two grandsons: Garrett Yohey and Travis Yohey, both of Bloomsburg; a great-granddaughter, Ella DiNaro-Ransel; a sister, Edna Cleaver, Bloomsburg; and  numerous  nieces and nephews.

Funeral services will be held on Wednesday at 11 a. m. in the Dean W. Kriner, Inc., Funeral Home & Cremation Service, 325 Market St., Bloomsburg, with the Rev. Thomas J. Fetterolf, opastor of Emanuel Reformed United Church of Christ, Mainville, officiating. Interment in Elan Memorial Park, Lime Ridge, with military honors by the combined VFW group.

Friends may call at the funeral home on Wednesday from 10-11 a. m.

The family will provide flowers. Memorials may be sent to either the Sisters of St. Cyril & Methodius Convent, Maria Hall Drive, Danville, PA 17821; Columbia Montour Home Hospice, 410 Glenn Ave., Bloomsburg, PA 17815; Gideons International, P. O. Box 165, Bloomsburg, PA 17815 or the Mifflinville United Methodist Church, P. O. Box U,  Mifflinville, Pa 18631.