Obituary of Clifford C. Oden

Clifford’s family includes his wife, Mildred and son Gregg and his wife Lola Lopes, all of Iowa City, sisters Ruby Troskey of Great Falls, Montana, JaNice Hansen and her husband Clarence of Elk Point, South Dakota, and Lovina Borghorst of Deland, Florida and Minneapolis, Minnesota. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters, Alvesta and Frances. During World War II, Clifford served as an officer in the US Navy providing air communications support for amphibious forces with the Pacific Fleet including at Subic Bay, Luzon in the Phillipines and on Morotai Island off the coast of New Guinea. Among the awards he received in recognition of his service were the Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal and the Phillipine Liberation Ribbon with one star. Clifford was an avid bridge player and enjoyed the daily crossword puzzle, which he usually did in ink. He was also a serious amateur carpenter with a well-equipped workshop. In the 1950's, he and Mildred built their own house doing most of the work themselves. Clifford was born in Akron, Iowa on August 1, 1909, to Carl and Helma (Halvorson) Oden of Nora, South Dakota. He graduated from Elk Point High School in 1927 and received the LLB degree from the University of South Dakota in 1932. He married Mildred Shuck on June 17, 1939. They lived in Elk Point, South Dakota where Clifford practiced law and won election to several terms each as States Attorney and as Country Judge until his retirement in 1974. Shortly thereafter, they moved to the Rio Grande Valley of Texas where they resided in the towns of Mission and McAllen until coming to Iowa City in 1998.