Final Salute

April 19, 1937 – February 1, 2023

Clive D. Montgomery, 85, of Grand Junction peacefully passed away on February 1, 2023, after a drawn-out struggle with Alzheimer’s. He will be sadly missed by family, as well as friends and will hold a place in the hearts of those who knew Clive.

Born in Chester, Oklahoma to Floyd Montgomery and Palma (Bowers) Montgomery. He was the fourth of 5 children born to his parents. His family moved to Las Cruces, NM where he graduated in 1954 from Las Cruces High School.

After joining the Navy in 1957, Clive (EOCN) worked as a heavy equipment operator for a Construction Battalion (Seabees). His duty stations were in Port Hueneme, CA and at Camp Kubasaki on the island of Okinawa. While stationed at Camp Kubasaki, he assisted with building the base airway system. In August of 1960, Clive married his love, Barbara Venable, in Enid, Oklahoma. A long-standing dream of Clive’s was to live in Colorado, this happened in 1974 when the family and pets moved to the Grand Junction area.

Clive was predeceased by his parents, Floyd and Palma Montgomery; siblings, Margaret and Peggy; as well as other loved ones including his nephews, Sam and Jason. He is survived by his loving wife, Barbara and their children, Sue (Joe) Stockman, Cindy Montgomery, and Craig (Sandy) Montgomery, as well as grandkids (Trinity, Josh, Austin (Heather), Chris (Jessica), Alysia (Jose), Anita (Zach) and great grandkids (Spencer, Robert, Irelynn, Kingston, Aubrey, Aaliyah, Archer, Kaleb, Ethan, Nathan, Jazzlyn, Dominic, Elliana) as well as many nieces, nephews, great nieces and nephews, siblings, and friends. His elderly cats, Lady and Buddy plus canine terrors, Whiskers and Rascal dearly miss Clive, too.

Throughout his life, Clive worked as a welder and often worked at other jobs. Over a large area of New Mexico, Clive operated a rock crusher, alongside his dad, for Haake Construction, a road construction company. In Enid, Oklahoma he worked as a welder for Hackney Iron & Steel and Geo. E. Failing as well at Peerless Ice Cream & Dairy Warehouse in the evenings. He was a welder for Grand Junction Steel until he retired. While at GJS, Clive worked on various projects including the skeletal frame of the largest tunnel in Glenwood Springs Canyon, located by the CDOT station. Other employers included Tidewater Industrial, F & S, Tumac Industries, and Rettig Farm.

Clive was an avid outdoorsman who spent many of his years hunting in the mountainous areas of western Colorado, specifically the Uncompahgre, Book Cliff Range, Grand Mesa, Maybell/Craig area and the Rifle Flat Tops. He also hunted on a nephew’s ranch in Wyoming. His goal in doing so, was to feed his family and contribute to the management of deer, elk, antelope, and bear populations. Later in life, Clive drew a once in a lifetime hunting tag for moose, which he was successful in his hunt. Clive enjoyed gardening, growing flowers, fishing, and canning season.

He held lifetime membership with the Seabee Historical Foundation, National Rifle Association and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

A warm note of appreciation is given to all of Clive’s caretakers and medical staff in Grand Junction and Rifle, CO.

For more information, please view Clive’s obituary on Brown’s Mortuary website.