Clarence Gordon Hotaling Obituary (2025)

Clarence Gordon Hotaling was born on April 8, 1930, in Yonkers, New York to Edward Guy Hotaling and Marian Isabelle (Osterhaut) Hotaling. Their family lived in Yonkers for several years, where Gordon started school and his two sisters Janice and Marcia were born. After the war started in 1941, the family moved to Albany, New York where Gordon continued his education and attended the Third Dutch Reformed Church. Childhood stories included being paid 10 cents to weed strawberries for a farmer, which he used to buy Pepsi that he and his friend T-boy (Thyril Ladd) would pour into communion cups to drink; flying paper airplanes through open church windows during a sermon; rigging trolley lines to come unhooked from the trolley, just as it was about to go uphill - much to the displeasure of the conductor! He told about seeing gangsters with machine guns while out playing in the nearby woods; selling the Saturday evening post door to door; and going to his grandparent's cabin, which they called 'Camp', on Sacandaga Lake every summer, where his love of fishing started. Gordon graduated from Albany High School in 1949, at a time he said young men couldn't get a job because of the draft, so he and his friend T-boy enlisted together. They went to Fort Devens in Massachusetts first, then ended up in the Pacific Northwest, training to run artillery radar while stationed at Camp Hanford; which was tasked with protecting Hanford Area plutonium production from possible threats. They lived in the desert in wall tents year-round - another source of stories! One evening, Gordon was in Yakima in uniform with a fellow soldier. Connie Reed was riding with a girlfriend who offered the soldiers a lift, and the rest - as they say - is history! Connie always said she would have married him after meeting him that one time! At the time, it was easy for a clean-cut young soldier to hitch-hike, and Gordon did. From Camp Hanford in Richland to Yakima to visit Connie and back, often riding with a movie theater film delivery driver who made the route frequently. Gordon and Connie went on marry and had their first son, James Gordon, in 1952. After Gordon's honorable discharge from the Army, the couple lived in Yakima for a while, then tried life back on Gordon's home turf in Albany, New York, where their second son, Gary Edward, was born in 1954. Gordon supported his young family by working at a game farm - raising game birds for wild release. He loved his time there and occasionally brought a baby bird home for the boys to see. At some point, Gordon began calling the Northwest "God's country". The lure was too strong to stay back East, and they loaded up their boys and belongings to drive to Washington in a 1948 Chevrolet. Once there, Gordon found work at a standard service station, which led to him eventually owning and operating Gordon's Chevron at 1202 N. 1st Street in Yakima. This provided for his family for the next 22 years. Gordon and Connie welcomed their daughter, Patricia Lynne, in 1958. A year later, the family bought their first house at 20 Ridgeway Drive, in Terrace Heights, where they lived for about 20 years. They went to Sequim annually for vacations, visiting Connie's Aunt Eunice, and staying at Dungeness Bay Motel. They also purchased a cabin on Chinook Pass, fondly named 'Hotaling's Hide-A-Way', and enjoyed many trips there year-round. There were hours of walking, fishing, cutting and stacking firewood, and playing games - which included occasionally getting to yell "Yahtzee!" out the cabin door! Snowmobiling in when necessary, enjoying hot chocolate by the fireplace, and eating Connie's meals prepared on the wood cookstove. Gordon loved relaxing on the hammock and enjoying God's country. Gordon's father Guy died in 1963 at the age of 58 of an unexpected heart attack. Gordon, Connie and Patty flew back for the funeral. Gordon's grandfather Clarence had also died young at age 48 of the same cause, so Gordon never expected to live long with that family history, joking that he expected to drop dead by 50! In 1977, Gordon and Connie had the opportunity to buy the Dungeness Bay Motel, which they jumped at! They had stayed there on vacations before, but now they lived and worked there. They poured themselves into it- loving life on the water. Unfortunately, in 1979 a big storm sank the Hood Canal floating bridge, and cut the lifeline of their Seattle customer base. So they sold the motel and returned to Yakima, renting a home near their old house on Ridgeway. After a year, they moved back to Sequim, where they remained until 2006. Gordon enjoyed being a semi-retired handyman there in Sequim, with plenty of time for fishing with friends, visiting family, and enjoying God's country on frequent trips to nearby beaches with picnic lunches packed by Connie. Gordon's mother Marian passed away in 2004, at the age of 97. A couple of years later, Connie was experiencing some health complications, and they wanted to be closer to family. They moved to Ellensburg, Washington, next door to their daughter Patty. They spent their time enjoying the view from their patio while doing crossword puzzles, landscaping their new property, and learning their way around their new community. They enjoyed visiting their son Jim in Selah, and when their son Gary moved back into the state, the whole family was within easy visiting distance. June 2013 brought sadness to Gordon and Connie with the passing of their son Jim from non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. In 2015, Gordon's sister Marcia Halse died back in New York. His ties to family in New York had been maintained through hours of phone time and reciprocal visits from coast to coast over the years. Connie developed pancreatic cancer, and passed away in June 2017, in Ellensburg. Gordon was hugely impacted by the loss of his life partner of 65 years, but bravely began being a housewife, as he called it, joking about wearing an apron to cook and do laundry. He learned to bake some, cook a little, and use the microwave, much to his credit. In 2019, Gordon's sister Janice Blodgett died, leaving him as the last surviving member of his family. In 2025 at age 95, virtually all of his family, friends and neighbors have gone on before him. Gordon passed into Heaven on October 9, 2025 in Ellensburg, Washington. Gordon was a kind, patient, giving and caring man, always steady and cheerful. We know that he has gone to be with the Lord, and are happy to think of him reunited with Connie again. He is truly in God's country now. A Memorial for Clarence will be held Friday, October 24th at 1:00 PM at Terrace Heights Memorial Park located at 3001 Terrace Heights Dr. Yakima WA. Brookside Funeral Home & Crematory is honored to be caring for the family.