Harry Clinton

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution has received word of the death of retiree Harry Clinton on November 13, at Wingate in Andover, MA, after a long period of declining health.  He was 89.

Harry was born in Woburn, MA, June 19, 1919, a son of the late Thomas and Josephine (Strike) Clinton, and was raised in Woburn, MA. He lived in Wilmington, MA, for over thirty years.

Harry began working at the Institution in 1964 as a fireman aboard the R/V Atlantis II under Captain John Pike, and became an oiler in 1975. He transferred to the R/V Knorr in 1978 as an oiler under Captain Emerson Hiller.  He retired in 1992.

Captain AD Coburn noted that Harry “would work in the engine room in a boiler suit or work clothes, but when he went ashore in port he dressed in a suit!  He was long involved with what he called the “Sweet Science” of boxing, once proclaiming he fought boxing legend Luis Firpo. If that was the case,  it was a heck of a feat!”

Prior to his employment at WHOI, he was a truck driver and a construction foreman.  He also served in the U.S. Navy.

He leaves several friends in the Merrimack Valley including Karl Norton of Tewksbury, and Laura Fleming of Andover.

A graveside Memorial Service will be held Friday, November 21, at 1:00 p.m. in Tewksbury Cemetery, 172 East Street, Tewksbury, MA, in the  Veteran’s section. At his request, there will be no visiting hours.