David Devlin Clement Obituary - Visitation & Funeral Information

David Devlin Clement, 81, beloved husband, father, and brother, died peacefully at his home in Gainesville, Virginia, Saturday, July 9. Dave was born in 1940, the second child of Chester Lee Clement and Doris Devlin Clement. The son of a Naval Officer, he was raised primarily in Vallejo, California, but also on Oahu, Hawaii where his father was serving in USS DETROIT on the morning of December 7, 1941, and in Washington, DC. Following graduation from Saint Vincent Ferrar High School in Vallejo in 1960 he attended Santa Clara University for a year. However, as he often quipped, he subsequently left Santa Clara and joined the Marine Corps “to escape Jesuit discipline”. In 1961, following graduation from United States Marine Corps Recruit and Infantry training in San Diego, he was assigned to the Marine Barracks in Vallejo, California for two years, and then 1st Marine Division in Camp Pendleton, California where he was promoted to Lance Corporal before leaving the Corps to continue his education at George Washington University in Washington, DC. To pay for college Dave worked part time job as an elevator operator for six months in the US Capitol. This job paid off in other unexpected ways as it led to a 35-year career on Capitol Hill, and as it was on the elevator that he met his bride Audray Lee Jubinville, to whom he was married for 55 years. Subsequently Dave served for four years on the US Capitol Police force, and then worked in the Office of the Clerk of the House of Representatives as the Assistant Chief of Office Equipment. In 1971 he entered the world of House staff work and served on the staffs of three congressman, and both the Appropriations and Science, Space, and Technology committees. In 1989 he was nominated as Chief of Staff and Chief Counsel for the Science committee by Congressman Robert S. Walker, where he served until his retirement in 1997. Outside of his primary career path he was very active. Dave earned a Masters of Public Administration from George Washington University in 1973, and graduated from George Mason University School of Law as a Juris Doctor in 1980. He was a member of the bars of the US Supreme Court, the US Court of Military Appeals, the Commonwealth of Virginia, and the District of Columbia. In 1976 he was commissioned as an officer in the Navy Reserve and served in various administrative, communications, and intelligence billets until his retirement as a Lieutenant Commander in 1995. At a younger age Dave was an avid outdoorsman, hunter, and fisherman, and served as scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 1114 in Fairfax, Virginia. He loved to travel with his wife Audray Lee Clement. He was a voluminous reader, most often of Civil War history but had an unsurpassed knowledge of Naval and American history as well, and served as an alternate on the American Revolution Bicentennial Committee. He was a master of the bad pun, dad Joke, and sardonic wit. Dave loved his family, his country, his Marine Corps, and his Washington Redskins. He is survived and will be missed by his wife Audray Lee Clement; his son David Devlin Clement Jr. and wife Jennifer Buehl Clement, and their children Liam, Brendan, Claire, and Sophia; daughter Meredith Spencer Clement Snakard and Husband Michael Snakard, and their children Morgan, Alexandra, Greg, and Angela; sister Barbara Clement Bissell and husband Allen Morris Bissell; cousins Frank John de Carbonel and wife Judith Sherry de Carbonel, and Henri Jean de Carbonel; and, goddaughters Amanda Hanson Heltzel and Martha de Carbonel Patterson.

David Devlin Clement

December 15, 1940 - July 9, 2022