Clyde Settle
Father of Brother Gary Settle
On Wednesday, June 14, Clyde Marion Settle, of Lebanon, Virginia, passed away at the age of 90. He was born February 4, 1933, to Preston and Louise Anna (Jones) Settle, in Cedar Bluff, Virginia, and was an identical twin to Kyle Thomas Settle. He had great love for God and his family.
Clyde is survived by his wife, Betty Combs Settle. They lived in Lebanon, Virginia. Clyde’s first wife was Gaynelle Mutter Settle whom he married in 1953. She was the mother of his children Gary, Randy and Teresa and passed away in 1986.
His children are Gary (Linda) Settle of Pylesville, Maryland, Randy (Joy) Settle of East Alton, Illinois, and Teresa (Jonathan) Snow of Old Hickory, Tennessee. Their grandchildren are Bethany (Jeremy) Martin, Andrea (Nate) Knauer, Amy (Bryce) Bauer, Ben (Julie) Settle, David (Robin Lynn) Snow, Elizabeth Snow, Matthew (Grace) Settle, Luke (Hannah) Settle, and Anna (Corey) Reeder. He was great grandfather to 20 precious grandchildren. He is survived by one sister, Dot Settle Sword, of Cedar Bluff and several nieces and nephews.
Clyde earned the rank of Corporal in the U.S. Army and served in Korea, 1953-1954. He was proud of his years of military service and loved his country. He served as a deacon at Welcome Home Free Will Baptist Church and Mt. Calvary Free Will Baptist Church, in Maryland. After moving back to Virginia from Maryland, he was a member of Oak Grove Baptist Church, Lebanon.
Clyde and Gaynelle raised their children in Aberdeen, Maryland, where he worked for the Federal Government at the Aberdeen Proving Ground for 35 years as a warehouseman and carpenter. His family was his biggest fan club. He owned property, known affectionately as Settle Holler in Cedar Bluff, Va. For many years, his growing family gathered for a weekend visit, eating, singing, and recreating, often a group would hike to the top of House and Barn Mountain. His favorite time during our weekend was gathering for worship in the holler on Sunday morning. They would sing, pray, and give testimonies. Clyde often sat, teary eyed; enjoying the blessings that surrounded him.
Clyde worked throughout his retiring years on his holler, recycled, mobile home compound, often working while we visited, fixing a new leak or patching a hole! He was a ‘worker-bee’ and if you wanted to talk to him, you had to keep up! He was usually carrying a hammer or some other tool. Of course, you listened to him because he always had another story from the past to tell; his memory about the past, his growing up years in the holler, his work years, his church activities; he had bountiful, detailed recall. It may not have been perfect, but he made it colorful and interesting.
Loved dearly by his family, the number of family members grew each year either through marriage of a grandchild or birth of a great grandchild. All were welcomed by Clyde with love and yet another bed appeared in the holler. He would have welcomed another great grandchild in the fall and spouse of a granddaughter.
In addition to always repairing and repurposing, he loved to pick apples. His retirement hobby was picking apples, selling apples, dehydrating apples, slicing and freezing apples and cooking apples. He could look at an apple and tell you what variety it was and how it was best used. You never left the holler without taking your quota of apples with you. He also made grape jelly to share and his famous French toast for Sunday morning holler breakfasts.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Gaynelle, his parents, his siblings; Glen Settle, Edward (Benny) Settle, Nell Lester, Mary Elliot, Jean Mutter, Lula Jackson, Clyde’s twin Kyle Settle, Shirley Hess, and Marvin (Mark) Settle and one great grandchild, Wyatt James Settle.
Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. on Monday June 19, 2023, in the Owens Funeral Service Chapel. Interment will follow at Greenhills Memory Gardens in Cedar Bluff, Virginia.
The family will receive friends on Monday at the funeral home one hour prior to the service.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations made to Oak Grove Baptist Church/Missions Budget, 4066 River Mountain Road, Lebanon, VA 24266.
Share memories with the Settle family at wwwowensfuneralservice.com.
Owens Funeral Service, 7 Tate Ave. Lebanon, Va., is in charge of arrangements