1/23/13

SAD, SAD NEWS...


It is with heavy hearts we inform you that Clinton Detweiler passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on January 22, 2013.
 
His love for ventriloquism and the many ways it allowed him to not just create objects but to connect with people was evident in all that he did.

Thank-you for being a part of his life...he enjoyed posting on the blog and trying to help those that had questions.  We are so sad that this blog will no longer continue.
 
Please know that if you have an order outstanding with him, we are doing our best to fill those in a timely manner. Please be patient with us.

As far as the contest of Darl Bennett's figure, we are closing the contest and returning the figure. We are unable to fulfill this wish.
 
 
We loved this man, husband, father, grandfather, friend.

Sincerely, Joy Detweiler Scheuerman

50 comments:

  1. Oh, I am so, so sorry to hear this sad news. He truly was a wonderful friend to the ventriloquist world. He lived his life in that everything he did brought glory to his Savior Jesus, and now I know he is walking and talking with Jesus in person today. I just got my new Vent Convention flyer and saw that this year's event was dedicated to Clinton and Adelia. I am sure it still will be, but he will be greatly missed. Please know you are in my prayers. Sandi Stricker, Nebraska

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  2. P. Grecian1/23/2013

    We loved him, too. Every last one of us. Peace to you.

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  3. Chuck Lyons1/23/2013

    Joy and we loved him. God bless your mom and the rest of your family. The world is a much better place because your dad was here.

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  4. Anonymous1/23/2013

    He will live in our hearts forever as a guide post as to how to live life & enjoy the art of vent. I have not ordered anything in a couple years, but ALWAYS enjoyed my dealings & occasional phone chats & letters through the years. truly a one of a kind in the realm of ventriloquism, & mankind in general. God rest & bless him, & my DEEPEST of hearfelt condolences to all his family, friends, & all his "little people" {Puppets} who he brought into this world, as i'm sure there's a tear in their eyes for their "daddy". God bless. Bill Smith

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  5. Canon John Jordan1/23/2013

    Clinton Detweiler enriched the lives of all those he touched in any way. The world is a better place and we are better people, because he lived among us.
    May his soul rest in the Joy of his Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

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  6. I am deeply saddened. I was a frequent emailer to him and a follower of his blog. My thoughts and prayers to family. He will be missed.

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  7. God Bless You my Friend, Rest in Peace! You Will be Missed!

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  8. Anonymous1/23/2013

    Clinton have a very profound and positive effect on my life , and along with every other vent in the U.S.A. , will remember him always ! Dave Markham

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  9. Anonymous1/23/2013

    This is indeed a very sad day. Clinton has been the central link and pivot to all vents worldwide. My best part of the day was to read the blog and this was a great source of inspiration to me.
    My sincere condolances to Adelia and family.
    Clinton will be sorely missed.
    Blessings and smiles.
    Doug Price, Cape Town. South Africa.

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  10. God bless you and your family. Mr. D was not ashamed to share his faith in our Savior Jesus. I never had the pleasure to meet him here but look forward to meeting him in Heaven. I will miss his blogs and his generous spirit.

    Cliff Wiggs

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  11. Anonymous1/24/2013

    Your Father was loved by anyone who ever met him. I am truly sorry to hear this. Please give my best to your Mother and know that you and your family are in my thoughts and prayers.

    Patti Huddleston

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  12. Anonymous1/24/2013

    My deepest and most sincere condolences to Adelia, Kevin, and family. My grief overwhelms me! This man became a very dear friend of mine. He has done so much for the vent community and for me, personally. I grew to cherish his friendship. One of the highlights of my daily routine was to interact with Mr. D. on this blog, if only through reading and benefiting from his wealth of knowledge and experience. I thoroughly enjoyed dealing with my friend. The Granny figure that he built for our Ministry, is now more precious to me than ever, as are the coin collection and everything else that I purchased from him, as well as the many items that I received through his benevolence and his extreme generosity. One of my deepest desires has been to one day meet my friend. I know now, that this will happen when I am called home. We can all rejoice in the fact that our lives have been so deeply and beautifully touched by such a wonderful and loving servant of God! Until I get home I will so sadly and sorrowfully miss my friend.

    Wilson Kindred

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  13. I deeply appreciated Clinton, knowing that he was a man of integrity, kindness and a strong Love for God. He was a great promoter of Vent to all who contacted him and thru his blog. Clinton will be missed by many of us. Our prayers for strength and The Lord's presence thru these days.
    Les Lamborn
    RBC Ministries

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  14. Anonymous1/24/2013

    He was a man worth knowing... very caring, warm and sharing.

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  15. Anonymous1/24/2013

    I am both saddened and shocked to hear of Clinton's passing.

    No words can express what a wonderful friend and mentor Clinton has been to me the past 43 years.

    My heartfelt condolences and prayers to the Detweiler family. He will be sorely missed.

    Glen Rappold
    San Diego, CA

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  16. We love him too! Like many, I found Clinton to be a source of encouragement, inspiration, information, and joy. He was one of my first stops of the morning each day as I turned on my computer. God bless your dear family. May the stories and feelings of many bring you comfort and joy.
    Dr. Jeff Scott
    Mechanicsville, VA

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  17. Anonymous1/25/2013

    Every morning for many months I read this blog. Though I didn't know Clinton personally, he became a friend. I was surprised to read that he is now in Glory. I am praying that God would comfort the family left behind and also that someone(s) would carry on his work in some form.
    God bless!

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  18. My family wishes to send you our condolences. Mr. D was an inspiration to my son Nick, and always took the time to respond to his questions. It breaks my heart to hear of your loss. May you find comfort in the fact that he was a wonderful person who freely gave of himself to help others in the profession he so loved. God bless you all.

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  19. bob steininger1/26/2013

    the detweiler family is in my thoughts and prayers i did not know him personally but we became family in the vent world i did communicate with him many times he was a true gentlemen he was my mentor and friend when i heard the news i was heart broken i pray for him as well as the family i am sure by all his teaching and figures that he has made will live on and carry out all the hard work and time he put into this trade we all must thank god that we had him come into our life in one way or another adelia i pray that god will watch over you and your family at this time of need (clintion i will miss you and i am sure that gad has other plans for you) may god bless and good nite

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  20. Anonymous1/26/2013

    Dear Detweiler Family, Like many, I was shocked and saddened by Mr. Detweiler's sudden passing. Please accept my heartfelt condolences. Mr. Detweiler was so helpful to me since I was 12 years old. I will never forget the first time I met him in person at the '82 ConVENTion. He was always there to answer my many questions and offer valuable advice. May he rest in peace. He has certainly earned it. Blessings to you all in this time of grief. Keith Suranna

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  21. Anonymous1/26/2013

    Family of Clinton Detweiler, we join you in mourning the loss. Surprizes are most often troublesome as we have not prepared ourselves for change. Please know that Clinton Detweiler's "Promotion to Glory" was no surprize to Him. He has been preparing for many years to join loved ones in Heaven. We who are left here are challenged to find peace in these days ahead. That kind if peace will come from God who promised it to us in times such as these. I say farewell to a friend who I will see again one day. I imagine a craftsman like Clinton has left behind many projects that need to be finished. I want to follow in His footsteps with the ability to amass such a faithful group of people who recognize the image of Jesus as we have seen in Clinton. God bless us all as we learn to walk the path of grief with humble hope for a future in Heaven. Farewell "Mr.D" You are loved. Blessings, Wes Green

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  22. Anonymous1/27/2013

    My condolences to the family Detweiler. I didin't know Clinton personally, but various times I had contact by mail, during and after my study of the Maher course. He is the man who taught me ventriloquism.
    Although I live at the otherside of the ocean, I feel that I did know him personally.
    I will miss reading his daily blog, he will be missed.
    Walter from the Netherlands

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  23. Winkle and Wags1/27/2013

    Wow! This unwelcome bulletin is stunning news indeed. I was so looking forward to his Feb 2nd return to the blog. However, I rejoice in that he'll have an eternal booking in Heaven. My heartfelt condolences to the family ... his legion of friends ... and, for that matter, the entire vent community, since I can't believe there wasn't a vent that his influence and craftsmanship didn't touch in one way for another. May God comfort the family and keep them near Him. To Mr. D. ... well, thank you, sir, for your help, your blog and the talent and time that you shared. I'll see you up there one of these days.

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  24. Clinton was a wonderful man and I'm thankful to him for his dedication to ventriloquism and his advice.

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  25. Anonymous1/28/2013

    Extremely sad news. We were in touch two weeks ago.
    My condolences to the Detweiler family.
    Conny Ray
    Sweden

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  26. Anonymous1/28/2013

    Will miss him till we meet again a wonderful friend and brothrer in Christ.
    Rev Dr Walt Ratzell
    New Jersey

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  27. Anonymous1/28/2013

    So sad to hear this news. May God be with you all in your time of grief.

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  28. Russell Baker1/29/2013

    To the Detweiler,
    I was very saddened at reading about the loss of Clint. I have done business with him for years, since he was with Maher studios. He was always willing to answer any questions, and most recently did an excellant upgrade on a Mortimer Snerd figure that I purchased from Maher studio many years ago. His love for his family, for God, and for the art of ventriloquism was evident in all of his posts in newsletters and his blogs. Although I didn't know him personally, through his correspondance, I came to consider him a friend. May God comfort the entire family through this time.
    Yours in Christ,
    Russell Baker

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  29. Anonymous1/29/2013

    Clinton just wrote me back last week. When I was in Colorado about 17yrs ago I knew I just had to find Maher Studios due to my intrest in vent figures. I remember walking in the door that day and seeing Clinton and Adellia. I knew I was going to purchase a figure but didnt know which one. I am not a ventriloquist but love everything about it. These folks welcomed my wife and I and let us look around and just let me drool. Clinton showed me his favorite at the time. It was a fully loaded Lovick Clipper. Eyes, mouth, winker blinkers, eyebrows and wiggling ears, a fantastic figure!! I bought him. Clinton and Adellia gave me a few momentos including a signed and dated vent frisbee. These folks are the best. Clinton saw all my creations over the years and never failed to help me in any way. I only met them once in person but knew they were something special. my God bless the Detweiler family. I will miss my sounding board greatly..David Ferdinand

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  30. Very sorry to read the sad news of Clinton's demise. I knew him since last 35 years. We had met only once almost 5 years back at the Vent Haven convention. He had published many of my articles and photos from time to time. His contribution towards ventriloquism remains unchallenged. All I can say that one solid pillar of ventriloquism and a wonderful human being has left us. His sudden departure has created a void that cannot be filled up. My heart felt condolences to the complete family.

    K.S.Gode
    India

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  31. Anonymous1/30/2013

    Just returned from holidays and as per usual turned to Clinton's blog....such sad, sad news....my deepest condolences to the family. Doing the Maher course and then reading and contributing to Clinton's blog over the years has always, always been a highlight for me. I always found Clinton to be very helpful, great advice, extremely generous and simply a joy to have his email responses and to read his wonderful encouraging blog almost on a daily basis. The vent community has lost a great encourager and advocate for the profession. I will deeply miss his blog and encouragement. Again with deepest sympathy and sending my best wishes to the family, as always, with kind regards and many tears for this great man and his family, Geoffrey, Australia.

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  32. Anonymous1/31/2013

    What a tragic loss to the vent universe. My deepest condolences to all. I truly pray you will leave this blog online, as a tribute to his kindness, all his work for the betterment of vent, & so current & future vents can continue to learn from the wisdom & generosity of this great, humble man. God bless him, i'll miss him dearly.

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  33. My deepest condolences. I was in shock when I got the news. My 11 year old son, Stephen, literally burst into tears. Clinton and I emailed each other quite a bit. He was such a blessing and encouragement to us. He was instrumental in getting Stephen his figure. We were both so looking forward to finally meeting him in person at the conVENTion this year. I have yet to attend one, but was planning on making this one with Stephen. Praise the Lord, we will still meet someday. Our prayers are with you all.

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  34. Anonymous2/03/2013

    Clinton was one of those rare people who affected my life so deeply, but we never met in person. His dedication to the art of Ventriloquism allowed me to get into Vent. I remember sending the practice cassettes in my Maher Course to him for his critique back in 1979. His encouragement gave me confidence in my growing, fledgling, ability. When he published some of my school show dialogues in a compilation booklet a number of years later, it made me so proud and gave me more confidence to pursue this art as a teaching tool. I bought one of them from Clinton recently so I could relive the joy at seeing MY artistic work in print.

    More recently he has been a daily part of my life through his blog and occasional email correspondence buying books from him. His comment about selling one on ebay for less than the shipping cost really sums up his generous spirit. He really cared about all of us who looked to him for knowledge about this art we love so much.

    In these more recent interactions I was able to express my sincere gratitude to Clinton for his life's work. He has made a real difference in my artistic world, among many others, and was uniquely able to serve this role for us, because of his kind nurturing nature.

    You will be deeply missed Clinton. I'll let your life be an inspiration to live as sincerely and as giving a life as you have. Curtis and the Bluez Kidz

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  35. I discovered Mr Clinton's blog 5 years ago while searching for ventriloquism. I got mesmerized with ventriloquism as i read through Mr Clinton's every posts at that time. I followed this blog religiously for years till now. Purchased the maher course, mini books and some novelty ventriloquist figures. And always replied to all of my silly questions.

    I was saddened reading about the loss of Mr Clinton. He was the reason for the growth of my passion for ventriloquism even though i am still not a ventriloquist. I enjoyed reading Mr Clinton's posts. They were all so informative and helpful. I still remember at some point he generously giving out stuff to his worldwide readers in his blog post at no cost and no obligation. This is the first time i ever experience such an act from the online world.

    My Deepest Condolences To The Detweiler Family.

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  36. So sorry to hear that Clinton had passed away,I pray God's comfort upon you all at this sad time.

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  37. Clinton always helped me and had a kind word. His blog was one of the highlights of the day for me.

    Rest in peace Mr D.

    Willem Stapelberg

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  38. Clinton Detweiler was the catalyst that God used to teach me ventriloquism starting with Bill Boley's audio tape "Here's Ventriloquism" and the booklet "Ventriloquism with a purpose." For three decades he had encouraged me through Newsy Vents magazine, emails, and his blog to be a character, faith and safety ventriloquist for the honor and glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. My starter dolls were bought through Maher. My grandpa figure later on. Last year, I bought his girl figure off Ebay that Clinton made in the 80s. It was wonderful to meet him at Vent Haven's ventriloquist conference in Kentucky. For his many friends in the Lord, it is not good bye but see ya later. May God comfort his loved ones in his absence.

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  39. Awwww, I'm very sorry for your loss! He sent me a few items of my dad's.... He was a very sweet man!

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  40. Anonymous3/09/2013

    Clinton touched many lives in many positive ways. We thanked him then and we thank you now for sharing him with us. The vent world will miss him immensely.

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  41. John Pattison3/12/2013

    Dear Detweiler family, I am very saddened to have just learned of Clinton's passing. I first corresponded with him some 42 years ago, and it was through him that I got my start in puppetry and ventriloquism. A great man who did so much for the ventriloquist community, I am terribly saddened. Please accept my
    condolences.

    John Pattison
    Toronto, Canada

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  42. Wow. Just Wow. This Can't be happening...

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  43. P. Grecian3/29/2013

    I always visited here every day. I still do. I'm so grateful that Clinton's family has kept this website up.

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  44. Anonymous4/22/2013

    We recently learned of Mr. Detweiler's passing. Mr. D built a figure that looked much like my husband and we have had so much fun with it. Please accept our sincere condolences.
    Audey and Wil Albert
    Port Hueneme, California

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  45. P. Grecian4/29/2013

    Thank you for leaving the website up. I visit it every day.

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  46. Steve Nylander5/07/2013

    I had the good fortune of living close to Littleton and made many a trip to the old house in the 80's. Clinton, his wife and son were always very cordial and it's with a heavy heart that I write this after reading about his passing. I never got a chance to have him fix my Mortimer Snerd that has broken mechanics.

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  47. In 1981 I was laid over in Denver while traveling to preach in Montana. I rented a car and visited Maher's Studio. Clinton spent a couple of hours with me showing me his shop and how to make figures, a very rare thing indeed as he almost never showed his secrets to anyone. As a result, I have made 20 figures myself adopted out across the country.

    When I mention famous people I've met, I always include Clinton Detweiler. I thank the Lord and the family for sharing him with us. Dr. Greg Pierce

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  48. i,m so sorry for your loss i will miss him he was great man an aslso wonderfull ventriloquist figure maker

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  49. i will truly miss him only met him once an his wife very nice people,he made figures for me in passed an did fantastic job on them,i really truly apreate his work,an had alot of enjoyment out of figure he made witch made very many senior citizen happy in nurseing home i an my friend gave shows for thank you both we apreate you an your work

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  50. Anonymous10/30/2013

    Chef Gary
    I know this is way after the fact. Mr Detweiler was one of a kind. I learned ventriloquism from him in the 1970's though the Maher course. He is very much missed. Who will pick up where he left off? The world is indeed a lesser place without him.
    Sad day for all vents.

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