George Clausen - WHS 1947
George Gerald Clausen was born in the Woodlake Hospital on June 25, 1929, to George and Etta Lulu (Ragle) Clausen. He grew up in the Naranjo area and attended Woodlake Elementary School from 1935-1943 and Woodlake High School from 1943-1947. After high school he attended Visalia College (C.O.S.) from 1947-1949 and then the University of California, Berkeley from 1949-1951. On June 15, 1951, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force as an airman before entering the Aviation Cadet Training Program. He graduated from pilot training on October 25, 1952, and was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant. However, he was only one of three in his class that were offered a regular commission into the Air Force. He served as a pilot in the F-80, F-84, F-86, F-100, F-105, and F-111 aircraft. Over his career he completed Squadron Officer’s School, Armed Forces Staff College, and the Air War College. He flew combat over North Vietnam (100 missions in Operation Rolling Thunder) and during that tour was Commander of the 34th Tactical Fighter Squadron. He was based at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. All operations were over North Vietnam or were in support of CIA operations in Laos. Later he served in NATO and was Director of Fighter Operations for USAF Europe. His last assignment was Director of Plans for 9th Air Force (Tactical Air Command).
Over the span of his career, he was stationed in France, Germany, Thailand, Arizona, Nevada, Virginia, Alabama, and South Carolina. He has been decorated with the Silver Star twice, the Legion of Merit twice, the Distinguished Flying Cross three times, and the Air Medal sixteen times, among many other commendations and service medals.
While he was stationed at Williams AFB, he met his wife Ruth Hess in Phoenix, Arizona. They were married on January 4, 1957 in Mesa, Arizona. They raised four children: Margaret, George Henry, Nancy, and Kathy, while living the nomadic life of a military family, traveling all over the United States and Europe. Nancy graduated from Woodlake Union High School in 1979 and is teaching 3rd grade at Castle Rock Elementary in Woodlake. Kathy graduated from Woodlake Union High School in 1980 and is a supervisor for the State of California’s Department of Weights and Measures. Margaret is retired from UPS. Ruth and George Henry are deceased. George is blessed with five grandchildren.
After retirement from the USAF after 26 years in 1977, he moved back to where he was born and raised in Woodlake. He became an orange grower again, farming the grove that his grandfather planted in 1905. He was asked to teach at The College of the Sequoias in 1980. Since his major at UC Berkeley was Soil Science, he taught the Soils, Fertilizers, Economic Entomology, Citrus, Irrigation, and Forage Crop Science classes. In 1990, he quit teaching at COS to devote himself to full-time farming.
He learned community service from his grandfather and father, who both served as school board members in Woodlake. He was a founding member of the WHS Foundation. At nearly 90, he still serves as president of the Woodlake Cemetery Board and as an Elder at the Lemon Cove Community Church. He is a member of the Tulare County Farm Bureau Land Use Committee and participates in a local committee devoted to measuring wells and collecting data on local water levels.
In his free time, he still oversees the management of the grove, meets for coffee with his friends every morning, enjoys solitaire, and mentors a young man that attends a private school in the area.
It is indeed an honor to induct George Clausen into the Woodlake Union High School Hall of Fame.
