Clarence H. Brockman

Clarence H. Brockman, 95, of McDonald, passed away peacefully Tuesday, November 17, 2015, in his home, surrounded by his many World War II, Steelers, Pirates and Penguins items, and his dog, Beni and daughter Barbara, by his side.

He was born June 26, 1920, in Midway, a son of the late Clarence and Ruth Welsch Brockman.

Mr. Brockman was a 1940 graduate of Midway High School. He entered the U.S. Army in July 1942, where he served in the 80th Infantry Division, 317th Regimental HQ Company, Communications Team and received an honorable discharge in October 1945. During World War II, he received the first of two bronze Stars for valor for holding his position during the Moselle River Crossing, he fought in the Battle of the Bulge, and on April 11, 1945, he was part of the liberation of Buchenwald Concentration Camp.

In January 1946, he began a 38-year career with Consolidated Coal Company, Preparation Plant, in McDonald.

On April 11, 1947, he married Naomi Jackson, who died March 24, 2014. They enjoyed traveling to Europe with other World War II couples, attending 80th Division Veterans Association functions and Caribbean Cruises.

Besides being an avid photographer and attending Jamboree in the Hills for 30 plus years, he was a lifetime member of American Legion Ernest Philips Post 485 of McDonald, Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 520 of Midway, United Mine Workers of America District 2, McDonald Presbyterian Church, Teutonia Mannerchor Club in Pittsburgh, and 80th Division Veterans Association, where during his 57-year membership, he served three times as national reunion chairman and twice as national commander.

Mr. Brockman received the French Legion of Honor Knighthood at the French Embassy in Washington DC, March 2015. He also received another honor from the Washington County Commissioners at a commissioners meeting and was honored in 2010 by Covenant Life Fellowship.

In April 2012, he and a Buchenwald Concentration Camp Survivor, Sol Lurie, spoke to a group of 700 people at Washington and Jefferson College. He returned to Buchenwald Concentration Camp with his daughter in 2010 for the 65th anniversary of the Liberation, at that time WQED produced a program, “Return to Buchenwald”, and later that summer he was interviewed at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial and Museum in Washington DC, where his interview is preserved on a DVD. There are several books with brief stores of his World War II experiences, “The Liberator” and “They Say There Was a War.”

In April 2014, he was honored by the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he received his own personalized jersey, they honored him again this past Veterans Day, June 2014, on military appreciation night at a Pittsburgh Pirates baseball game, and he was honored as “Fan of the Game”. On September 8, 2015, he was honored by the NFL and Pittsburgh Steelers during their “Salute to Service” presentation.

He was a direct descendent of Col. John Canon, founder of Canonsburg.

Mr. Brockman leaves behind a son, James (Lynn) Brockman, and a daughter, Barbara Brockman, both of McDonald; a granddaughter, Jennifer (Rob) Guidice of New Brighton; three nephews, Scott (Carol) Albertini of McDonald, John (Kay) Covode of Hayesville, NC, and Robert (Trish) Covode of Cincinnati, OH; four great-nephews; five great-nieces; and eight great-great-nephews and nieces.

Deceased are two sisters, Mary Brockman Covode and Ruth Brockman; a brother, SSGT Robert J Brockman, KID, May 10, 1945; and a niece, Mary Covode Berry.

Friends will be received from 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday and 10 to 11 a.m., the time of services, Friday, November 20, in Nation Funeral Home Inc., 220 East Lincoln Avenue, McDonald, with Pastor Justin Amsler of McDonald Presbyterian Church, and Rabbi David Novitsky of Beth Israel Synagogue of Washington, officiating. Burial will follow in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township. Military rites will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday in the funeral home by American Legion Ernest Philips Post and Veterans of Foreign Wars Post of McDonald and Midway.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made on behalf of the family to the funeral home.