David J. Clemons, founder of a Harford County heating, ventilation and air conditioning firm, died Saturday at his Bel Air home of an apparent heart attack. He was 68.
The son of Tolan Tory Clemons, an HVAC business owner, and Lillian Caroline Clemons, a homemaker, David Joseph Clemons was born in Baltimore and raised in Bel Air, where he graduated in 1965 from Bel Air High School.
Mr. Clemons started an HVAC company, Polar Bear Refrigeration, in the early 1980s in the basement of his home.
Even though he closed the business in 2012 to spend more time with family and friends, Mr. Clemons continued to take service calls from loyal customers, family members said.
Mr. Clemons enjoyed traveling and collecting and driving Corvettes. He eventually owned three of the classic sports cars.
"His children remember him as a kind, patient, supportive and hardworking father who encouraged them always to have character and integrity and to believe that they could do whatever they set their minds to," said a daughter, Elaine Leibsohn of Tysons Corner, Va.
"He was a generous, witty and dedicated man who loved his children," said Ms. Leibsohn.
He was an active communicant of St. Margaret Roman Catholic Church, 141 N. Hickory Ave., Bel Air, where a Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. Thursday.
In addition to Ms. Liebsohn, Mr. Clemons is survived by five sons, Peter Clemons of Baltimore, Timothy Clemons of Ellicott City, Joshua Clemons of Glenelg, Raymond Clemons of Fort Myers, Fla., and Matthew Clemons of Las Vegas; seven other daughters, Tanya Clemons of Wilson, N.C., Aimee Clemons of Hawaii, Wendy McKay of Boulder, Colo., Jin-Sook Davis of San Jose, Calif., Sarah Silveira of Modesto, Calif., Caroline Panlilo of Tampa, Fla., and Rebekah Toledo of Salt Lake City; his mother, Lillian Caroline Clemons of Bel Air; four sisters, Carol Dishmon and Jean Mullen, both of Bel Air, Mary Ann Campbell of Port Royal, Pa., and Rosemary Epperly of Shrewsbury, Pa.; and 19 grandchildren. Two other sons, Michael Clemons and James Clemons,died in 1988. His marriage to the former Sally Simpson ended in divorce.