BELLEFONTE — Frank Clemson had a way of making people feel safe. You could see it in his eyes, his daughter Leslee says, that let you see “right into his heart and soul.” Those eyes, and the gentle voice that came with them, were often the last thing she saw each night as a little girl, when her father sang her to sleep.
“The memory sticks with me because of the tender care he took with me… and because Dad’s eyes were the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen.”
That tenderness, paired with an unshakable sense of duty, defined Frank Gray Clemson, who died peacefully in his sleep on Dec. 29, 2025, at age 92. To Bellefonte, he was a veteran, a football official, a civil servant, a VFW commander and a tireless volunteer. To his family, he was “Beloved Pap.”
Born June 12, 1933, in Bellefonte, Frank grew up on a farm in the Buffalo Run Valley near Stormstown before moving through Bellefonte, State College and Philipsburg. He was a standout three-sport athlete at Bellefonte High School, graduating in 1951, and later played championship softball. For 50 years, he officiated football, including Penn State scrimmages in the early Joe Paterno years, earning recognition in 2009 for his “outstanding career as a football official.”
But to his son Drew, the man behind the whistle was simply “Dad.”
“Dad was very active with us,” Drew said. “He took Chris and I to town with him on Saturdays when we were young. After church on Sundays, he would stop at Les Thomas’ variety store on High Street for a newspaper and he would always let us get a small bag of penny candy. After home football games, Dad would cook us steaks.”
Those small rituals carried the same weight as his public service. Drew describes him as positive, even-tempered and steady. “His glass was definitely half full,” he said. “We could always rely on him for help, support and advice. One of his best pieces of advice was, ‘act don’t react.’”
That philosophy followed Frank from Korea to Centre County. As a communications chief in the U.S. Army during the Korean Conflict, he earned the rank of corporal and several military honors. But he returned home to a country that, in his words, did not always welcome Korean War veterans.
“He was bitter about his time in Korea and the lack of respect and support that Korean Veterans received when they returned,” Leslee said. “In time, Dad resolved his bitterness and decided it was time for him to give back.”
So he did. For decades, he served on the VFW Post 1600 Honor Guard, presenting flags to families at military funerals. He emceed Memorial Day and Veterans Day ceremonies on the Diamond. He volunteered through the Jaycees, the Knights of Columbus, the American Legion and more.
“He was just a really good guy,” said Andy Hillegass, Honor Guard commander at Bellefonte’s VFW Post 1600. “You never met a nicer guy than Frank.”
“When I was with him, we folded the flag together,” Hillegass said. “He always liked presenting the flag. That meant something to him.”
One memory still makes Hillegass laugh. During a winter funeral, Clemson was folding the flag while wearing white gloves.
“He went to take his glove off, and it slipped right out of his hand and fell into the grave,” Hillegass said. “So that guy got buried with one of Frank’s gloves. We teased him about that for a long time.”
To his grandchildren, service came wrapped in laughter. Frank greeted them with “Pappy’s Buppers,” smacking his lips with exaggerated kisses that sent them into fits of giggles. One granddaughter later wrote a poem calling him “The Angel-Saint,” celebrating his hugs, his jokes, his ice cream sundaes, his gardens and his endless love.
Leslee remembers him as gentle, patient with people and impatient with broken household projects. “Duct tape became his household fix-all,” she said.
In the end, Frank’s legacy is not a list of medals or titles, though there are many. It is the way he lived.
“He believed that service to others was of the utmost importance,” Drew said. “He lived a very full life.”
And for the people of Bellefonte, the ones who knew his smile, his humor and his quiet strength, Frank Clemson will always be remembered as the man who made them feel like they were in good hands.
