CLODFELTER, Donald
Source: Indianapolis Star Wed 16 April 2003 p 30
Services for Donald Edwin Clodfelter, 78, Greenwood, formerly of Russellville, a retired Indianapolis Public Schools teacher and former Army Air Forces pilot, will be at 11:30 a.m. April 17 in Wilson St. Pierre Funeral Service & Crematory, Greenwood Chapel, with calling from 4-8 p.m. April 16. Burial will be in Hebron Cemetery< Russellville. He died April 14. Until retiring in 1986, Mr. Clodfelter was head of the math department at Arlington HS. Previously, he taught for 12 years at Indianapolis Public School 73. A veteran of WWII, Mr. Clodfelter was a B-24, pilot. In December 1944, during a bombing raid on the Blechhammer
Oil refinery near the southern border of Poland and Germany, his plane had trouble and the crew bailed out. He landed in a swamp in Russian-held Hungary and was found by Hungarians carrying pitchforks and clubs. After convincing the locals that he was American, they led him to Russian soldiers, who transported him to Bucharest, Romania. There, he met up with the rest of his crew. They were then returned to the Americans. Mr. Clodfelter was a member of Forest Manor United Methodist Church. He was a graduate of Butler University and the University of Mississippi. Memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer's Association or a favorite charity. Survivors include his wife, Wilma Rutlege Clodfelter; children, Diane Vancleave, Dean Kenneth Clodfelter and Denis Young; brothers, Lyle and WIlliam David Clodfelter and six grandchildren. Machledt Funeral Home, Waveland is handling arrangements. - kbz