Lemoore Chamber honors new Citizen of the Year, Organization, and Business

By Ed Martin, The Leader Editor
Lemoore's newest member of the Citizen of the Year club and wife Paulette .
Lemoore's newest member of the Citizen of the Year club and wife Paulette .
Photo by Jay Salyer

The Lemoore Chamber of Commerce, at his annual 57th Annual Installation and Awards Banquet Saturday night honored longtime teacher and coach, Bob Clement, as its 2015 Citizen of the Year. Joining Clement this year as special honorees were Families and Schools Together (FAST) credit union as the Business of the Year and the Kings Lions Club, a relative newcomer to the community, as this year’s Organization of the Year.

Families and Schools Together, Business of the Year
Families and Schools Together, Business of the Year
Photo by Jay Salyer

All were honored with proclamations during a dinner and awards presentation at the Tachi Palace and Hotel. Most members of the Kings Lions Club were on hand to accept their award and FAST CEO Paula Lehn and her board members were on hand.

Clement’s long-time friend, and last year’s recipient of the Citizen of the Year, Don Warkentin introduced Clement.

Lemoore’s newest member of the Lemoore Citizen of the Year club has plenty of people to thank, particularly those folks who, during his formative years, helped to shape him into the individual he is today. Bob Clement, as he was molded and shaped by others along the long road of life, has in turn helped to shape Lemoore into the community it is today.

“I’m so grateful and humbled at the same time,” said Clement who was notified of his selection last month. “Having had the opportunity to live in this town my entire life has been very special.”

The Kings Lions Club, Organization of the Year.
The Kings Lions Club, Organization of the Year.
Photo by Jay Salyer

Clement says he’s seen a lot of progress since he was a small boy being raised by his grandparents Rose and Antone Bello. And he’s seen many changes in Lemoore since graduating in the first class from Mary Immaculate Queen (MIQ) School in 1962 and then later from Lemoore High School where he was a star athlete in baseball, football and basketball.

He also remembers those who guided him throughout the years, remembering fondly his lifelong friendships with former St. Peter’s Catholic Church priests Monsignor James O’Doherty and Monsignor John O’Friel, both men who helped shape him into the community-minded man he became.

Many of the men who proceeded him as Citizens of the Year were also good friends, and some were almost part-time parents: D.C. and Lillian Billingsley, Gene and Geri Martin, John and Shannon Vieira. Vieira and Billingsley are past citizens. Martin is in the Lemoore High School Hall of Fame. “To be honored along with them is a humbling experience,” he said. “They’ve always been very special people in my life.”

He had a special fondness for O’Doherty and O’Friel, a pair of priests who spent much of their adult lives in Lemoore. “I saw them all the time as a boy,” said Clement. O’Doherty, a Notre Dame-loving priest, loved Lemoore High football games, and Clement would always find him a special seat in the press box for games.

Clement attended MIQ, Lemoore High School and West Hills College in Coalinga where he played baseball. He transferred to Fresno State where he earned a BA in Physical Education and a minor in Social Science. He went on to earn his Master’s in Education from the University of LaVerne.

Clement began teaching at Lemoore High School in 1971, the beginning of a lifetime dedicated to the youth of Kings County and Lemoore as a teacher, coach, devoted church supporter and service club volunteer.

Clement was the LHS head baseball coach for 28 years and was the architect of the renovation of the school’s baseball field. He was the California State Baseball Coach of the Year in 1998. While he left the high school to work for West Hills College as the school’s athletic director both at the Coalinga campus and the new Lemoore campus, Clement still has ties to the school, serving on the school’s Foundation’s board of directors since 2004.

Under Clement’s leadership at West Hills College Lemoore, the school added men’s and women’s golf, men’s and women’s soccer, cross country, wrestling, and women’s basketball. He also played a key role in the planning of the Golden Eagle Arena.

In addition, Clement has served as a member of the Lemoore Planning Commission since 1995.

Above all Clement is very active in his church and was co-chair of the St. Peter’s Building Committee, which over the course of approximately 14-15 years, raised nearly $8 million to build the new St. Peter’s Church on Lemoore Avenue.

Clement is retired from education now, but still finds time to get involved. He’s currently serving his third term as Kiwanis Club president and this year took over for the late Bill Henry as chairman of the Kings-Tulare All Star Football Game Committee. He also serves as one of the announcers at the Golden Eagle’s women’s basketball games.

Clement has been married to Paulette for 28 years.  

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