Clarence L. Boone, a much-loved building manager at Paul VI
Catholic High School in Fairfax, died of a heart attack Dec.
28 in his sister’s home in North Carolina. He was 65 years
old.
A funeral service was held Jan. 4 at Roanoke Salem Missionary
Baptist Church in Garysburg, N.C., where he was buried.
Masses to honor his life were celebrated Jan. 8 and Jan. 13
at Paul VI.
Born April 6, 1948, in Gumberry, N.C., Boone settled in the
Washington area in the 1970s.
Prior to his nearly two decades at Paul VI, Boone was
employed at National Security Inc., an electric security firm
in Fairfax City, where he dispatched requests for police and
fire responders.
According to Paul VI staff, Boone was integral to the school
community, helping out with everything from moving boxes and
fixing lockers to setting up for Masses, cooking for rallies
and selling tickets at football games.
His service to the school “went way beyond the call of duty,”
said Julia Becker, a former Paul VI teacher, in a eulogy for
Boone.
An avid Dallas Cowboys fan, “a lot of people recognized him
by the Cowboys hat he would wear nonstop,” said Paul VI
senior Anthony Golesorkhi in a talk at the schoolwide Mass
Jan. 13.
Along with keeping the school running, Boone was a friend and
role model to countless students.
Becker proctored detention for years at Paul VI and said
Boone often showed up to put the students to work loading
boxes and cleaning.
“While working with students during detention he actually was
doing something more – he was mentoring them,” Becker said.
“The respect the students had for him was incredible. The
worst punishment was not the detention or the work, it was
disappointing Clarence by misbehaving or making poor grades.
“He was responsible for getting more than one student to
attend college and finish,” she added.
Golesorkhi said in his talk that Boone “cared about everyone
so much.”
“If you knew him for just 10 minutes, you were able to rely
on him. He loved everyone in the PVI community. No matter how
many times he would say he’s retiring, we all knew he wasn’t
going to because he loved the kids and what he does for the
kids so much.”
Boone is survived by his mother, Dorothy Grant Boone, three
sisters and three brothers.
Donations in his memory may be made to Paul VI Catholic High
School, 10675 Fairfax Blvd., Fairfax, VA 22030
