CLYDE JARRELL REMEMBERED BY THE SILVER VALLEY CIVITAN CLUB
Submitted by Gary Arnold
The Silver Valley Civitan Club celebrated the life of Civitan
Clyde Jarrell at a special gathering March 11.
Jarrell was one of the
longest tenured Civitan members of the local club joining nearly 44 years ago. He was one of eight members inducted June 22,
1975. From among those members, remaining are Jerry Surratt, Harold Parrish and Gary Arnold.
Jarrell particularly enjoyed participating in Project Santa Claus. For many years his work prevented him from
helping with deliveries on Christmas Eve. For the past several years he was part of the team with Santa that delivered to
people with disabilities. Confined to bed, Clyde requested that his truck be used for deliveries on Christmas Eve 2018
so he would a part of Project Santa. Civitan Harold Parrish drove the truck and the team visited Clyde during their round.
Any project that included cooking would find Jarrell with an apron and spatula. Jarrell
would volunteering almost every day in the club food concession at the Davidson County Agriculture Fair.
Clyde Jarrell was a Founding member and firefighter of with the Silver Valley Volunteer
Fire Department since 1960. He always had his scanner on his belt.
He served in many capacities including Fire Chief
for 4 years and responded to thousands of calls over a six-decade period.
In the early years, Jarrell was one of few firefighters available during the daytime hours on weekdays. He drove a fire
truck to many calls alone with others arriving later from their jobs in town or firefighters from other departments.
Some of those calls were tragic with results being death or serious injury or the loss
of a home or business. When the call is over for a firefighter, they leave the scene, but the sights, the sounds and the thoughts
stay with them. This is where the true service of citizenship is borne by an emergency first responder.
The Silver Valley Civitan Club honored Jarrell in 2010 for service to the community as a 50-year firefighter.
He had a dozen awards from Civitan mostly for cake sales or serving as the sales team chair.
The Silver Valley Volunteer Fire Department recognized Jarrell for service over the years with 26 plaques,
including “Fireman of Year.”
Jarrell was a member of Pleasant
Grove United Methodist Church located at the Davidson-Randolph County line on Old Highway 64. Jarrell’s funeral and
burial took place at the church.
He received full fire fighter honors
including the display the SVFD ladder truck and a pumper truck. A squad from the Davidson County Honor Guard provided graveside
rites. One of the most moving rites was the call to the county 911 dispatcher who relayed the message throughout the county
that Firefighter Clyde Jarrell had made his last call.
Jarrell was a
meat cutter with the family business, Jarrell’s Supermarket, most of his career. He began work there as a teenager and
worked for 30 years until the store closed in 1985. At that time almost every person in the Silver Valley community knew Clyde
from his work in the store.
Jarrell later retired from Lowes Food’s
in Denton after 15 years service. He did not take well to retirement, was bored and chose to return working at Sav-A-Lot in
Lexington. Only failing health sidelined him from work.
Jarrell was
born to Troy Clyde Jarrell and Esther Arnold Jarrell on September 4, 1940 and passed January 15, 2019 at age 78.
He was married to Carol Harrison Jarrell on his 20th birthday in 1960. They have four
grandchildren, two step-grandchildren and four step-grandchildren.
Mrs. Jarrell and several members of the couple’s
family attended the meeting. Their son, Chris, his wife, Michel, and their daughters Carly and Lacie, of Midway, were present
as was Clyde’s sister, Marie Jarrell Eddinger, of Lexington. The Jarrell couple also has a daughter, Monica Jarrell
Chase, who resides in Gainesville, Virginia with her husband, Dana, and their two children. Carol’s sister, Shirley
Tysinger, was also a guest.
Twenty-two people gathered for a meal at
New Jerusalem Reformed Church. A memorabilia and photo display were available for viewing before and after the meeting as
well as a slide presentation of family and Civitan photographs. Prominently displayed were his fire helmet and Civitan caps.
Gary Arnold presented information pertaining to Jarrell’s family, career, firefighting
and Civitan activities. The Rev. Bradley Treece, also a Civitan, spoke about his friendship with Clyde over the past
two years. Civitan Chaplain Joyce Parrish read the Firefighter’s Prayer. Several Civitan members as well as family
members shared personal remembrances.
The Silver Valley Civitan Club
will celebrate its 60th anniversary next month having been chartered April 25, 1959. The club typically meets at New Jerusalem
Reformed Church on the second and fourth Monday of the month at 7 p.m.
(The late Clyde Jarrell is holding his cooking spatula last September in the Silver Valley Civitan Club
food concession at the Davidson County Argiculturial Fair.)
