Loraine Grimm Cleaver, 75, died early Tuesday morning, Oct. 5, 2010, at his home near Geneva on the farm where he was born and raised.
He was the only son of Glen Loraine Cleaver and Minnie Inez Grimm. Along with his younger sister Henrietta, he grew up working the family farm.
He graduated from Iola High School and went into the U.S. Army at 19. He was discharged from the Army in 1956 and returned home to marry Sherry June Hadley in October of that same year. They worked the family farm together and raised four children. In the late 1970s, he was introduced to the oil business by his longtime friend, John Hass, where he grew to become one of the largest independent oil producers in southeast Kansas.
He grew up hunting and fishing as a means of existence during the hard times and continued doing so to the end.
He is survived by his four children, Connie Dotson, Cathy Cook, Gary Cleaver and Linda Crowder; eight grandchildren; one great-grandson; a sister, Henrietta Bird, her three children and their families.
Visitation will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday at Waugh-Yokum & Friskel Memorial Chapel in Iola.
Funeral services will be at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Wesley United Methodist Church in Iola. Burial will be in Geneva Cemetery.
Online condolences for the family may be left at iolafuneral.com.
Loraine Cleaver
