With sadness, the family of Clarence Mohr announces his passing on November 1, 2020 at the age of 82.
Clarence is survived by his wife Carol; 5 children Cheryl (Normand), Barbara, John (Jodie), Elizabeth, and Christopher (Amanda); 8 grandchildren; and 3 great-grandchildren.
Clarence was born at home on the farm, near Hay Lakes. The house was a granary, that had been converted into a dwelling for the family, and he sometimes liked to say that he was born in a barn. The family moved to another farm, near New Sarepta, when he was a few weeks old. Clarence contracted whooping cough at this time, but survived to tell the tale.
His schooling began in a rural two-room school called North Busenius, continuing there until the end of grade seven, always in the same room. The school was moved into the town of New Sarepta, where he took his grade seven and eight. For high-school he went by bus into Leduc, graduating in 1955. He enjoyed much of the time he spent in high-school, and liked to talk about his memories. He had a very good teacher in a class called Survey of English Lit. It was a small class, and his appreciation for literature, particularly poetry and Shakespeare continued all of his life. Sometimes, at noon, they walked downtown to split a brick of ice-cream at the drug store. In all his school years he enjoyed sports, but was not able to take part in teams, because he had to catch the bus for home and the chores. He did a lot of running on the rural gravel roads to improve his stamina and his speed.
After high school he worked in house construction on a forms crew for Golden Construction; one summer in Winnipeg as a construction gofer on the Highways Building; and later in the oil industry on the service rigs. In 1960, Clarence began his career in tele-communications with CN Telecom, working in various places along the Alaska Highway from 1960 until 1965. In 1965 he returned to Edmonton, and worked for Alberta Government Telephones (later re-named Telus) from then until his retirement in Feb. 1993. Pop became the “go-to guy” for a system called Pulse Code Modulation – shortened to PCM. His co-workers sometimes said that PCM stood for Phone Clarence Mohr.
After retirement Clarence spent many years and countless volunteer hours doing income-tax returns, mostly for low income people in the inner city, and also for anyone who needed his help. He often helped those who had encountered tragedy in their lives. It didn’t matter whether their past income was low or high. If they needed his help, he gave it. His greatest joy was in helping folks to get the benefits that they had been missing. He often referred to this work as his golf game. In the inner city he was known as “the tax man”.
Due to Covid concerns, a private family service will be held. The service will be livestreamed on Saturday, November 7, 2020 at 1:00 pm.
Serenity Funeral Service – South Edmonton, (780)450-0101
Our most sincere sympathies to the family and friends of MOHR Clarence November 1 2020..
Death notice for the town of: Edmonton, Province: Alberta
Clarence will be remembered very fondly. He was always a gentleman as we worked together at AGT and then Telus for many years.