Thomas Clinton Pollock

Portville- Thomas Clinton Pollock died in his home on Maple Avenue on Saturday (May 8, 2021), after a long illness.

Born at the home of his grandparents, Clinton Duello and Eva Frost Comes in Smethport, PA., on April 9, 1925, he was the son of Arthur Thomas and Christel Comes Pollock.

Tom attended secondary school at Portville High School and Wyoming Seminary. Even though he did not graduate from Portville High School, he made many lifelong friends and always felt he was a part of the PHS Class of 1943. In 1943 he took the Army Air Corp exam and became a member of the Class of 45 A. He then attended college in Springfield, MA. His preflight was in Ontario, CA where he learned to fly a Sterman, then to Bakerfield, CA., for the twin engine Sesna and finally to Douglas, AZ for B-25 training. He also learned night fighting by radar. He was being trained to fly the P-61 Black Widow for the invasion of Japan when on August 6, 1945 the first bomb was dropped on Hiroshima and the war was all but over.

He graduated from the University of Pittsburgh in 1950 and worked in the West for an oil company as a seismologist.  In 1960, he married Mary Ronda Shaner in Portville.

Tom was very active in the community and served as County Chairman of the American Heart Association and Justice for the Village of Portville.  In 1976, he was President of the Portville Bicentennial Committee. He received a Lifetime Membership in the Portville Parent Teachers Association, A Lions Club Community Service Award in 2005 and was inducted in the Portville Central School Hall of Fame in 2012 for his community service and philanthropy. After acquiring his home in Portville, he dedicated himself to the restoration of the house. In 1992 he was awarded a prize in the Great American Home Awards of the National Trust for Historic Preservation for his replication of the original stencils on the ceilings of his home, The William E. Wheeler House in Portville. In 2001 the house was placed on the State and National Registers of Historic Places. His large weed free garden was for many years a source of pride. He was a member of the Portville American Legion Post 814, F.&A.M. Portville Lodge No. 0579, the Ismailia Shriners, The Portville Historical and Preservation Society, The Bartlett Country Club and for many years served as President of The Portville Country Club. He was an avid golfer. He attended the First Presbyterian Church.

In addition to his wife; he is survived by his daughter, Melody Elizabeth (Marc Ellis) Pollock; and a son, Ronald Arthur Pollock; grandchildren, Christel Beatrice (Jonathon Chambers) Ellis, Thomas Howard Ellis and Ronald Arthur Pollock Jr.; great grandson, Hunter Robert Chambers; and nephews and nieces.

He was predeceased by his brother Robert Comes Pollock; his nephew Christopher Arthur Pollock; and his brother’s wife, Lila Garrahan Pollock.

Friends will be received at the William E. Wheeler House, 29 Maple Ave., Portville on Friday (May 14, 2021) during the hours of 3 to 6:30pm. A Masonic service will follow at 6:30pm. Rev. Marilyn Hale will officiate at a private funeral and Committal Service at Chestnut Hill Cemetery, Portville.

Memorials if desired may be given to the Portville American Legion Post #814, P.O. Box 469, Portville or to Home Care and Hospice, 1225 W. State, Olean.

Funeral arrangements are under the direction of the Guenther Funeral Home, Inc., 51 S. Main Street, Portville.  Online condolences can be expressed at www.guentherfh.com