Cleman Claud Stuart was born on February 3, 1926 in a rural area just outside Oxford, Arkansas the son of Oscar Stuart and Minnie Moser Stuart. He was one of four boys: Clyde, Clay, Cleo and Claud, the youngest. Claud’s three older brothers as well as his parents preceded him in death. Claud’s wife, Trudy Cherry Stuart also preceded Claud in death in 2014.

Surviving Claud are his children, Ronald (Rose) Stuart and Sandra Stuart; his grandchildren, Chris Stuart, Amy (Devin) Durham, Anissa Matthews, Stuart (Fabiana) Matthews, James (Susan) Stuart, and Amanda (Eddie) Sheppard; his great grandchildren Tristan Stuart and Gabriel (Katie) MacDonald, and Sophia Matthews; and one great-great grandchild Astrid Stuart-MacDonald.

Claud’s family were farmers, and when they lost their farm they became sharecroppers. They had no modern conveniences including electricity until Claud returned from the Navy in 1946. It was a basic life, but food was plentiful. He credited his big brothers with everything from teaching him the importance of properly brushing his teeth to how navigate life in general.

For Claud’s senior year of high school, he lived with his aunt and uncle, transferring to Salem High School in Salem, Arkansas for his senior year. There, a pretty and kind of sassy freshman girl named Trudy Cherry walked up to him and offered to share her bottle of Coca-Cola. Her best friend dared Trudy to do this, and Trudy seldom turned down a dare, but in this case, of course she took that dare. In her words, “That was the best-looking boy I’d ever seen.”

And that was that. Voted the school’s “most lovesick couple”, the only thing that could separate them was World War II, when Claud departed for a stint in the Navy immediately after graduation. While in the Navy, Claud was the radar man on a small flat-bottomed boat (too small to traverse the seas, but it did anyway, all the way to the Philippines and Japan, and every wave hit with a resounding thud across the oceans).

Returning home from the war, Claud and Trudy eloped with another couple in a ’34 Chevy Coupe, which it turned out, could only go straight or make right turns, no left turns because the faulty brakes had been wired to the steering. Somehow, they made it to Mountain Home and, serving as witnesses for each other, the two couples were married, April 27, 1946.

Soon after they were married, Claud and Trudy moved to Council Bluffs, Iowa, and a year later made a contribution to the Baby Boom when Ron was born.

Moving was something Claud and Trudy did frequently over the years, although Springfield was home for the largest number of years. In 1951, they added on to the Baby Boom with Sandra, born in Springfield. During their family-raising years, Claud and his family were members of South National Church of Christ.

Claud worked various jobs from traveling salesman to owning a mom-and-pop grocery store and later a Tastee Freeze, as well as several retail positions, before entering the management training program in 1968 with that new company called Walmart. Claud managed the Walmart store in Neosho, MO for many years, until he decided to retire in the mid-1980s.

Claud and Trudy had a wonderful retirement, traversing the U.S. in their RV until they were ready to limit their travel to Branson in the summer and the Rio Grande Valley in Texas during the winter. Everywhere they went, they developed close friendships. Ron and Sandy’s families were delighted when Nana and Papa would show up in their RV to visit them and their grandchildren.

Eventually, Trudy’s health issues and Claud’s degenerating eyesight ended the traveling and the south Texas winters. They settled in Branson until it became necessary to have skilled nursing care for Trudy. In those years, Claud first took care of Trudy at home in Branson, learning the skills of cooking and laundry and waiting on his love, and then he moved into a duplex across the parking lot from Trudy’s care facility, spending at least half of every day with her. And every time Claud entered the facility, Trudy beamed at him and shouted, “Here comes the love of my life!”

Claud and Trudy were married for 68 years. After Trudy’s passing, Claud returned to Springfield, living for ten years at the Cambridge Independent Living Community, attending Sunset Church of Christ, spending time with family, participating in as many activities as his eyesight allowed, and creating new friendships once again. He did not give in easily to illness, but had the grace and faith to accept what he could not change.

A visitation will be held from 1:00 p.m.- 2:00 p.m, Thursday, January 25, 2024 at Greenlawn Funeral Home South in Springfield, MO. Funeral Services will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the funeral home. Burial will follow at Maple Park Cemetery in Springfield, MO. With full Military Honors.