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Minn. man spends 90th birthday in prison, voluntarily

Bob Clemens started volunteering for the Minnesota Department of Corrections in 1980

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Bob Clemens is greeted on his 90th birthday by friends at inmates at the Minnesota Correctional Facility.

Image Scott Takushi/Pioneer Press

By Mary Divine
Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL, Minn. — Guests at Bob Clemens’ 90th birthday party on Tuesday morning had to undergo a background check, walk through a metal detector and pass by dozens of prison guards.

But the rigmarole was worth it.

Clemens beamed as about a dozen inmates at Minnesota Correctional Facility-Oak Park Heights sang “Happy Birthday,” ate cake and drank coffee. Then he led the men in prayer.

“Dear Lord, I thank you for the wonderful 90 years you’ve given me,” Clemens said. “Lord, I thank you for these men, and I pray that you would bless each one of them. Please bless the warden and all of the staff, the guards, the chaplain. Lord, we thank and praise you for them and the service they do. ... Amen.

Clemens started volunteering for the Minnesota Department of Corrections in 1980, leading Bible studies at the prisons in Sandstone and Lino Lakes before moving to the maximum-security facility in Oak Park Heights 27 years ago.

“Sometimes when I come, I don’t feel so good, but by the time I leave here, I’m full of pep because you guys are really good for me,” Clemens told the birthday party attendees. “Thanks for having me here.”

One of the inmates told Clemens that he was the “best thing that ever happened to Oak Park Heights and the prison system here in Minnesota.”

“You put up with us, you overlook our shortcomings, and you’re full of love,” the inmate said. “You’re truly a blessing.”

“I’ve been studying under him for 17 years,” another inmate said. “He’s taught me a great deal about being a real genuine man of God.”

Clemens and his wife, Mary Nell, live in White Bear Lake and attend First Evangelical Lutheran Church in that city. He’s been a member of the church since 1930.

Clemens said he started his prison ministry work after a mentor told him he had a “rotten attitude” about prison inmates.

“I thought they ought to build the walls higher and give the guard bigger clubs and lock them up and throw away the key,” Clemens said. “So coming here made a big change in my life. These men are all human beings, and they deserve some treatment that they sometimes don’t get any other place but with volunteers. I’ve gotten a lot more out of it than they’ve gotten out of me.”

Warden Kent Grandlienard said Clemens provides an invaluable service.

“It’s very important to the offenders to have outside volunteers come in and work with our population, especially at this facility, a maximum-security facility, where only 40 percent of inmates get visitors,” he said. “We don’t have many people from the community willing to come into this kind of environment.”

Clemens said he never asks the inmates why they have been incarcerated.

“That’s not a subject that I want to talk about. I want to talk about what they’re going to do from here on in their life,” he said.

WITH DIGNITY

Clemens’ Bible group is currently studying the Gospel of Mark; he said it could take them a long time to finish.

“We don’t take very many verses at a time because we get some excellent discussion,” he said. “You know, some of these men spend hours a day studying their Bibles and praying. They make the best use of their time in a bad place.”

Chuck Colson, who founded Prison Fellowship ministries after serving time for his role in the Watergate scandal, said Minnesota had one of the best prison systems in the world because it treats its inmates with dignity, according to Clemens.

“I’m proud that we live in Minnesota,” he said.

“Over 90 percent of them are going to get out, so the better you treat them, the more sane they’ll be when they get out.”

Clemens enlisted in the Army Air Force after his high school graduation in 1942 and was trained as a navigator during World War II. He was stationed in Italy and flew about 50 B-17 bombing missions over Europe.

“I was always amazed at how well we were trained and how we could put that training to good use in actual combat,” said Clemens, who still works about 20 hours a week in financial planning and insurance. “That discipline served me well for business. When I have an appointment, I’m there on time, and I’m prepared on what the person wants to talk about.

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The inmates praised Clemens for never missing one of his volunteer shifts; the Bible study group meets two or three days a month.

“Bob has been an inspiration to me,” one man said. “He’s always faithful. He’s better than the U.S. Postal Service. I don’t care what the weather has been -- it can be the worst storm of the century -- and Bob comes in here. It’s showed me what it takes to be a faithful servant of God, and I just respect you for that.”

Added Capt. Steve Ayers, a prison guard: “He’s probably the most dependable and reliable person on the face of the Earth. He’s a gift.”

Ayers later asked Clemens his secret to living a long life.

“My mother was an advocate of not drinking or smoking,” he said. “I tried booze when I got into the military, but it didn’t taste good, so I’ve never drunk or smoked, so I supposed that has helped some. I also eat a lot of fruit and vegetables.

“This is the best time in my life,” he said. “Right now. I really enjoy this part of life. It’s just fantastic.”

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