Obituary of James Claymore

In Memory of James L. Claymore James Louis Claymore, Lakota name (Ole a' hop pi) was born on March 17, 1920 and died September 12, 2008 at the age of 88 years old in Mt. Juliet. TN. He was born at Old Agency in South Dakota, to Agnes Kingman Claymore and James Louis Claymore. On his maternal side, James is the Great Grandson of Chief No Heart, (Minnicoujou) and the Great, Grandson of Dog's Backbone who was killed in the Battle of Little Big Horn. James' Grandfather was Harry Kills First (Kingman) and Grandmother Mollie Gilbert Kingman. On his paternal side, his Grandparents were Paul Louis Claymore and Sophie Garreau Claymore. He grew up on Old Cheyenne Agency with his mother, Grandmother, Mollie Kingman, LaLa Harry Kingman, and his uncles and aunties. His father died when he was 3 years old. His mother remarried to Art Lafferty. James highly respected his stepfather and his step-siblings became lifelong friends. James graduated from high school at Gettysburg, South Dakota in 1939, where he was the Class President, and played Football, Basketball, and Track. He began his higher education at South Dakota State College in Brookings, SD but had to discontinue due to lack of funding. He later entered Ellendale College in Ellendale, ND where he graduated with a BS majoring in Teaching Industrial Arts and Science in 1943. James Claymore placed a high value on education. When he entered college at Ellendale, ND, he told them he only had $38.00, but he could play and beat anyone in sports. The college's President looked at him and said, "Give me your money and go to school". He was very proud that all seven of his children received college degrees. He served in the US Army from 1943 to 1945 as an Intelligence Specialist in the 425th Night Fighters Squadron (Black Widows) during World War II . He served in Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe before being Honorably Discharged from Camp McCoy, WI at the rank of Sergeant. After his service he became a teacher and a coach at Pine Ridge BIA School in South Dakota. He served in the Bureau of Indian Affairs at Ft. Yates, ND, Pine Ridge, SD, Carson City , NV, Cleveland, OH, Rosebud, SD, Sisseton, SD, Anchorage, AK, Belcourt, ND, and Eagle Butte, SD. He served 33 years with the BIA and retired as the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe Agency Superintendent in 1975. All his life he worked for the betterment of life for the people around him. He wanted to help people be successful, especially the Native American people. He believed that anyone could accomplish anything if they wanted it bad enough. He served on the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Council for District 5 for five years in the 1970's. He ran for the South Dakota State House of Representatives and South Dakota State Senate during the late 70's. James was appointed to an Elder Council represented by each of the four Bands (Minneconjou, Itazapcosni, Sihasapa and the Oehe Numpa) as "Naca'O'kola ki ci ye." He represented the Sihasapa Band. The 'Naca' O'kola kici ye' are recognized for their leadership by the People along with the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe. James served as an Advisor to the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe through 2002. After moving to Tennessee he continued to be active serving as Board Member of the Native American Indian Association and made several presentations including being a speaker at "The Relevance of Religion to Government and Economics"at the Nashville Peace and Justice Center, "Race Unity Celebration- Institute for the Healing of Racism", for Vanderbilt University. He was a Charter Member and served as Chair for the Indians in Medicine program (INMED)for many years. He served on the American Indian Scouting Association (AISA) board receiving the honor of the Silver Beaver Award for outstanding service to youth in 1980 and the St. George Medal. He was a long standing member of the Masons reaching a 32 degree Mason and belonging to the Mother Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, The Eastern Star and The Shriners. He served a number of years on the Yelduz Shrine Horse Patrol and Al Menah Potentate's Guard. James loved life no matter what he did from the time he was little he rode horses and played any sport that was available. During his high school years and throughout college, he was known for his athletic ability in football, track, basketball and other sports. However, golf was a passion and he continued playing golf throughout his life. One year ago James won the Tennessee State Golf Tourney in his age group (86-90) and went on to the Senior Olympics. He was preceded in death by his Father, James Claymore, Mother, Agnes Kingman -Claymore-Lafferty, Step-Father, Arthur Lafferty, Grandparents, Harry Kingman (LaLa), and Mollie Kingman, and son Robin. He is survived by his wife, Betty, his sons Michael Claymore and David Berard, his daughters, Debra Claymore-Cuny, Janet Claymore-Ross, Connie (Claymore) Schlotthauer, and Vickie Claymore-Lahammer. James' wish was to be buried at the Black Hills National VA Cemetery. Services will be held at 10am Wednesday September 17th, 2008 at St. Matthews Episcopal Church in Rapid City, SD. with internment following at the Black Hills National VA Cemetery in Sturgis SD at noon. There will be a viewing from 5pm to 8pm, Tuesday September 16, 2008 at the Behrens-Wilson Funeral Home in Rapid City, SD. Arrangements by SELLARS FUNERAL HOME AT MT. JULIET, 2250 N. Mt. Juliet Road, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122 615-758-5459, Obituary Line 615-758-8818, www.sellarsfuneralservices.com