Henry Clifford Preher
Henry Clifford Preher, husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend, died peacefully Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005, at Cullman (Ala.) Regional Medical Center. He was born in Evansville, Ind., on Feb. 18, 1919, to Henry Conrad and Pearl Wattam Preher. During his childhood and adolescence, he sang as a boy soprano at St. Paul's Episcopal Church and graduated from Bosse High School in 1935. After graduation, he joined the Army National Guard and played the trombone and sang for the band. When the director of the band retired, Henry accepted the director position at the rank of chief warrant officer. When the United States entered into World War II, He trained to become a B-17 pilot. He was first stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., where he directed and sang for a dance band. This is also where he met his future wife, Nell Baker of Lumberton, N.C., during a dance band performance. After training, he was assigned to the 8th Army Air Corps flying B-17 bombers. He was shot down over Germany and was captured as a POW where he was imprisoned for the remainder of the war. Henry was awarded the Silver Star, Prisoner of War Medal, Europe-Africa-Middle East campaign medal, Air Medal, World War II Victory Medal and Purple Heart for his service in the war.
Henry was married on Aug. 10, 1945, and enrolled at Purdue University that same year. During his second year of college (1947), he was blessed by the birth of his first child, a son, Henry Clifford Preher II. Cliff was followed by Janelle Preher in 1949. The "baby" of the family, Margaret Lynne, was born in 1953. He graduated in 1948 with a degree in mechanical engineering and began working as an applications engineer for Servel Corp. This company was sold several times and Henry was promoted several times as well. He moved his family in 1967 to Cullman, Ala., where he worked as vice president of sales for Americold Compressor Corp. until his retirement in 1987, at the age of 68.
After retirement, Henry stayed actively involved in his beloved Grace Episcopal Church, where he carried out his childhood passions of singing in the choir, training and working with the acolytes and serving as a reader, lay eucharistic minister and a member of the vestry. He continued to enjoy working in his yard as much as possible and traveling with family whenever he could. He also spent many hours visiting and caring for Nell at Cullman Long Term Care Center, where she has resided since November 2000.
Henry was loved by all, especially those who survive him, including his wife of 60 years, Nell (Baker) Preher; his three children, Cliff (Carolin), Jan and Lynne; his grandchildren, Marla Ingram (David) Scott, Troy Preher and Ryan (Danielle) Preher; and his great-grandson, Matthew David Scott.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to Grace Episcopal Church Choir Fund, Cullman Regional Medical Center Foundation or Hospice of Cullman County. The body was cremated and a memorial service was held on Friday, Sept. 2, 2005, at Grace Episcopal Church beginning with visitation at 2 p.m. and the service at 3 p.m. Williams-McCracken Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.
