Beverly Cleary and Clarence Cleary's love story: Inside their beautiful 64-year marriage after she dies at 104
Celebrated children's book author Beverly Clearly, famous for her iconic classics like Henry Huggins and Ramona Quimby, died on March 25, 2021, at the age of 104. She had been married to Clarence Cleary, an accountant with an avid penchant for music. They stayed together till Clarence's death in 2004 at the age of 94 years.
Clarence Cleary had always been a great supporter of his wife's career as an author. Despite their financial prosperity, with Beverly Cleary becoming a multimillionaire, the couple decided to lead a modest life and provide a normal upbringing to their children. The two shared a close bond that is rarely found.
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happy 104th birthday to beverly cleary, who eloped to get married to her husband clarence because he was a Catholic and her presbyterian parents didn’t approve
— tommy (@theghissilent) April 12, 2020
they were married 64 years, until clarence’s death in 2004 pic.twitter.com/llMuTv1ET2
Who was Clarence Cleary?
Clarence Cleary was born on April 8, 1910. He met his future wife, Beverly, at a dance at the University of Berkeley. While Beverly was pursuing a course in English there, Clarence, who was six years older than her, was studying economics and history.
Beverly described her first impression of Clarence as "kind, gentle, quiet and, best of all, single. I made sure of that.” She also writes about their first meeting, mentioning that he was tall, thin with blue eyes and black hair.
The couple eloped to get married because her Protestant parents would not approve of Clarence, who was Catholic. After their marriage, it was he who encouraged her to nurture her passion for writing.
In 1948, Clarence accepted a job as an auditor at the University of California. That was when Beverly discovered a ream of typing paper at their new home, which she considered as a sign for her to embark on her writing journey. However, she suffered from writer's block initially and told her husband that she couldn't write because she did not have any sharp pencils. Clarence made sure to bring a pencil sharpener for her the very next day. The following year, her first book and a forever favorite classic, 'Henry Huggins' was published.
The couple resided at a house in Carmel Valley that overlooked the golf courses. They were proud parents to twins - Malcolm and Marianne, who inspired Beverly's book 'Mitch and Amy'.
Clarence had always been extremely proud of his wife's success and evidently praised her during interviews.
After his death on June 15, 2004, his obituary mentioned him as someone who "loved music, and his songs and beautiful voice will be missed by all those who knew him."
Clarence and Beverly Cleary's timeless love story
Before meeting Clarence, Beverly had her fair share of interaction with potential suitors and she had mentioned one of them in her memoir 'My Own Two Feet'. Referred fictitiously as Gerbert, he was an older man who was often invited to their house by Beverly's mother. He wanted to marry Beverly but she rejected his proposal and describes her own attitude towards him as 'horrid'.
After getting admission to the University of Berkeley, Beverly dated an English physicist and was also deceived by a suitor who turned out to be married. It was at such a time that she met Clarence Cleary. In her memoir, she recalls a hilarious incident of Clarence picking her up in a tuxedo on the night of her college graduation, but he did not know how to put on the bow tie. Eventually, it was a gas station attendant who tied it for him while the couple stopped to fill gas.
A Protestant from Yamhill, Oregon, Beverly's parents disapproved of Clarence for being Catholic and even tried to convince her to end their relationship. But, nothing could deter the young couple deeply in love, who managed to maintain a long-distance relationship for quite sometime after her graduation.
After earning a degree in Library Science from the University of Washington, Beverly started working as a librarian in Yakima, while Clarence was working in Sacramento at the time. The two visited each other on weekends at the time.
In 1939, Clarence proposed to her but without an engagement ring as he could not afford one. Instead, he slipped a cigar band on her finger which Beverly kept even after she got a real ring. In the summer of 1940, the couple eloped and got married at a church in Reno, Nevada.
They first settled in Oakland, California where Clarence worked at a cost inspection office for US Navy while Beverly worked part-time at a book store. Even after her writing career took off, the couple continued to live a humble and simplistic lifestyle. In 1955, they became parents to twins Malcolm and Marianne, who are presently working as a banker and a professional musician respectively.