Gerald L Cluff

North Las Vegas, Nevada – Gerald L Cluff, 92, passed away Saturday, March 23, 2024, at his home.  He was born October 30, 1931, in Monarch, Duchesne, Utah, to George Leo and Clara (Sheffer) Cluff.  He married Florence Margaret Stephens on May 7, 1950, in Bunkerville, Clark, Nevada.   He was a devoted and loving husband, father, and grandfather.  He was kind, generous, humble, gentle, and welcoming to everyone who knew him.

Gerald lived with his family in Northern and Southern Utah, and Southern Nevada where he met his future wife, Florence.  He was drafted into the U.S. Army in February 1953, served in the Korean war in artillery just outside Seoul, and was discharged in December 1954.  Upon return to the U.S., he and Florence lived in Ogden, Utah, while he worked at Hill Air Force Base.  

By 1959, they moved to North Las Vegas where he obtained employment with the North Las Vegas Fire Department.  There he served for 21 years obtaining the grade of Engineer driving a big fire truck.  He retired as a firefighter after being injured on the job, eventually requiring surgery on his shoulder and cervical spine.  He then embarked on retraining, first as a draftsman which he didn’t like because it was an indoor job.  He then apprenticed as a surveyor with the Operating Engineers union in 1987, which he loved.  The union sent him to the Tonopah (Nevada) Test Site where he commuted and worked for approximately 10 years.

He had many skills, including bricklaying and masonry, which were taught to him by his brother Clarence.  He extended his living room and added a beautiful fireplace faced with petrified wood (collected before it became illegal).  He also was skilled in carpentry which he had initially learned from his father, and one of his brothers-in-law taught him roofing.

One of his most favorite activities was spending time up in the mountains of Southern Utah.  He loved building campfires.  He loved Dutch/oven-cast iron cooking, especially Dutch oven potatoes.  He and his family built a small log cabin made from tree logs that he cut down up on the mountain.  He then debarked and cured them and made them into a small cabin that lasted for decades.  He loved family reunions and loved hosting them every summer year after year.  He then decided that his lot needed a little something to make family members feel more comfortable and welcome so he built a gigantic gazebo that the whole family could sit under while having their reunion meals.  This was another labor of love, and he recruited many family members to help in the building as it slowly took shape.  

However, his most favorite activity always remained caring for family members, especially pampering his grandsons, great-grandchildren, and great-great grandsons.  Over the years, he and Florence took in many nieces and nephews who needed a place to stay while studying or looking for a job; always making everyone feel like members of a very loved and cared for family.  He loved helping anybody who needed help and never felt put out.  He loved doing things and helping people rather than just talking about it.

Probably as a result of his experience as a fireman, he loved to drive long distances and frequently took long road trips to visit family.  He loved to travel to family reunions out of state and across the country, whether they were the family of David Cluff (1795-1881) or John Clough (1613-1691).   He was a member of the Sons of the American Revolution.

He loved road trips, driving up the Pacific Coast to British Columbia to the Canadian Rockies back to Las Vegas.  Later, a trip to the Mormon Colonies of Chihuahua, Mexico:   Colonia Juarez and Colonia Garcia high up in the mountains to see ancestral homes and graveyards in the land where his mother had been born and where his parents had been married.  They had to abandon their little paradise and flee northward across the border because of the violence of the 1910 Mexican Revolution.

They flew across the world to Turkey to visit their daughter’s young family for her first Christmas away from home.  Debbie’s husband was stationed at the U.S. Air Force base for two years.  What an adventure that trip was!

He loved animals, especially his many pets, hummingbirds, and eagles.

He is survived by his wife Florence of North Las Vegas, Nevada; daughter Debbie (Rafael) Amaro of Harbor City, California; grandsons Russ Grieder of Pahrump, Nevada, and Jeff (Sheryl) Grieder of Holly, Michigan; one great-grandson; three great-granddaughters; two great-great-grandsons; and sister Lerleen (Lamar) Lund of Saint George, Utah.  He was preceded in death by his parents; four brothers, George Vance, Clarence, Orson Leroy, and Ira K; and three sisters, Vella, Deveen and Delsa.

Funeral services will be Thursday, April 18, 2024, 12:00 PM, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 2295 N Walnut Rd, Las Vegas, NV.  Visitation will begin at 11:00 AM and services will be followed by a luncheon hosted by the church.

Interment will be Friday, April 19, 2024, at Southern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery, 1900 Veterans Memorial Drive, Boulder City, Nevada.  We will meet at the cemetery chapel at 12:45 PM and will be directed by officials to the gravesite from there.