Cleon Yohe Jr.
Cleon Yohe, Jr., 70, of Fenton, MO, died on Tuesday June 26 at Delmar Gardens of Meramec Valley after losing his battle with cancer. He was born in Queens, New York, and was raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He graduated from Central High in Philadelphia, received his undergraduate degree at University of Pennsylvania, and his doctorate at University of Chicago. He was a mathematician and Professor Emeritus at Washington University in St. Louis where he taught since 1966. Surviving are his wife Doris, his son, Karl of Santa Monica, California, his sister Linda Helbig of Mesa, Arizona, and stepson, Brian Bradshaw and his wife Cherish, and three step grandchildren, Alexandra, Benjamin, and Isabella. He was preceded in death by his parents, Cleon Sr. and Mary Miller Yohe of Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Cleon’s interests included studying science and learning languages, listening to music, making musical instruments, and played the banjo, guitar and violin. He enjoyed art, literature, making model trains and airplanes. He is a member of Eliot Unitarian Chapel of Kirkwood.
Funeral services will be Sunday, July 1 at 2pm at Eliot Unitarian Chapel, 100 South Taylor Avenue, Kirkwood. Per Cleon’s wishes, his body was donated to the National Body Donor Program for medical teaching purposes. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Cancer Support Community of Greater St. Louis, 1058 Old Des Peres Road, St. Louis, MO 63131.
Sending love and support your way.
Have you and your family in our hearts. Hoping your cherished memories will help you heal.
All the best,
Jan and Bill Erdman
You are in our thoughts. May memories bring you some comfort at this difficult time.
Cleon, you shall be missed. and especially our discussions of words and their origins.
Keep up with your Sanskrit, of friend.
To Doris and family,
So sorry to hear the news. Though we are unable to be there Sunday, we will be thinking of you all. Cleon’s gift of himself to medical research and his lifetime of teaching says much about the value of his life, and we know he shall be greatly missed.
Bob and I are very sorry to hear of Cleon’s passing. We are thinking of you, Doris, and send our love.
I just returned from a trip out of the country yesterday and was told of Cleon’s untimely death by my sister. In spite of being divorced from Cleon for 29 years, I have thought of him and wondered how he was doing. I am pleased to learn that he retired as Professor Emeritus and didn’t have to form the organization of Associate Professors Emeriti, as he often joked. I pray that his sense of humor and varied interests supported him to the end. My condolences to his wife Doris, who I don’t know, and to Karl and Linda who I knew in the past. (I get to Phoenix where my sister lives and LA where my son Rod lives and would welcome the chance to catch up with Karl and Linda if they so choose.)
On behalf of the 211th class of Central High School, please accept our sincere condolences.
Very sad to hear of Cleon’s passing & disappointed that we couldn’t make it to the service on Sunday. Cleon was quite a guy, never ceasing to provide a thoughtful & interesting viewpoint on whatever topic happened to come up. I could always expect a good conversation with Cleon and thoroughly enjoyed his sense of humor. Doris, our thoughts are with you.
We extend our condolences, knowing that memories soothe and love prevails. Our deepest sympathy during your sorrow.
My thoughts are with you and I hope you find the strength to make it through this hard time.
I took Cleon’s differential equation class in Spring 2009. It was the most fun math class I have ever taken. As a math major, I was used to dryer lectures, but his were genuinely exciting. I remember talking with him after class, almost every class, and he patiently answered all of my questions with enthusiasm, bringing in examples from physics and computer modeling.
He would often perform lectures in the following way – by presenting a problem, then trying to solve it with the knowledge us students already had. After he exhausted his efforts – he would derive a new and useful concept from what we already knew.
Cleon gave me a solid foundation for mathematics and logic – and he showed me a way that I want to teach. I want to be patient, energetic, kind, and not underestimate my pupils. I will miss him, but I can assure you that his spirit will live on in his thousands of students.