Clarence Peter Simonsen was born on September 26, 1931 in Eden Township, Brown County, MN to L.P. and Rose Mary (Matter) Simonsen. He attended rural school district No. 57 in Brown County, and St. Mary’s grade school in Sleepy Eye. He attended Sleepy Eye High School graduating in 1949. He graduated from South Dakota State University in Brookings, SD with a B.S. in Agricultural Engineering in 1953. He served in the U.S. Army as a communication technician with the 273rd field artillery battalion in Germany.
Clarence married Evangeline Hoffmeister on April 23, 1960 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Heron Lake. The couple made their home in Rochester and moved to Marshall in 1962 where he was area engineer with US Department of Ag. Soil Conservation Service.
He retired in 1986 and thereafter did consulting work and surveying in the ag engineering field. He had the opportunity and enjoyment of providing technical assistance to many local farmers, contractors and landowners. He was a member of Holy Redeemer Catholic Church, past member of Sleepy Eye Drum and Bugle Corps, Marshall Area Men’s Chorus and MN Society of Professional Engineers.
On Monday, April 24, 2017, Clarence passed away at the Minneota Manor in Minneota at the age of 85.
He is survived by his wife Evangeline Simonsen of Marshall; his stepdaughter Carol and husband Bill Turner of Sedalia, MO; stepson Michael Hoffmeister of Lakeville, MN; grandsons Andrew Turner of West Plains, MO and Nicholas Turner of Denver, CO; great grandson Charles Turner; and sisters-in-law Beverly Simonsen and Lucille Simonsen both of Sleepy Eye, MN and Ruth Simonsen of Morgan, MN. He was preceded in death by his parents L.P. and Rose Simonsen; sisters Alice and Laura; and brothers Bernard, Donald and Maurice.
Blessed be his memory.
