John Robbins "Bob" Clower, Jr.

John Robbins “Bob” Clower, Jr., died on August 16, 2023, in Arlington, Texas, in the home of his daughter, Ruth Helen Clower Elmer.  

Mr. Clower was born November 15, 1931, in Gulfport, Mississippi. He graduated from Gulfport High School in the class of 1949.  After graduating, Mr. Clower attended Duke University in Durham, North Carolina but graduated from Mississippi State University in 1953.  He was a member of Phi Kappa Phi Honorary Fraternity and Sigma Phi Epsilon Social Fraternity from whom he received the Clifford B. Scott Key award for high academic achievement.  After serving in the United States Air Force, he returned to Gulfport where he joined the J. C. Clower Furniture Company.  He later became president of the company.  

Mr. Clower was a member of St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, where he served in the Vestry.  Mr. Clower was an active member of the Gulfport community. He was a past director of the Gulfport Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Gulfport Rotary Club, where he was a past president, and Paul Harris Fellow, a member of the Gulfport Yacht Club, Great Southern Club, and a former member of the Century Club.

Mr. Clower was preceded in death by his wife of 65 years, Barbara Taylor Clower, and his parents, Helen Turner Clower and John Robbins Clower, Sr., of Gulfport. 

Survivors include his children, Ruth Helen Clower Elmer, Nancy Clower Hoppe and her husband Christopher Martin Hoppe, John Robbins Clower, III, and Lucy Clower Norris and her husband Lawrence Erickson Norris; grandchildren, William Clower Elmer, Christopher Gehlsen Hoppe, Samuel Robbins Norris, and Claire Layton Norris; his sister-in-law, Ruth Taylor Murdock; and niece, Margaret Estelle Murdock.

A memorial service will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, at 5:00 p.m. at St. Peter’s-By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, 1909 15th St, Gulfport, Mississippi. Bradford-O’Keefe Funeral Home, 15^th Street, Gulfport is honored to serve the Clower family.

Memorials may be made to St. Peter’s By-the-Sea Episcopal Church, Gulfport, or the charity of your choice.