Don Clement

Mineral Bluff native Don Clement grew up in the family of Earl and Roberta Burnette Clement that included six girls and five boys. Don came along as number 5 in the group. Earl worked at a number of jobs during his life including postmaster, owning and running a general store, teacher in a one-room school and farmer. Don’s grandfather, J.M. Clement, was one of the founders of the North Georgia Baptist College in Morganton and also was one of the early school superintendents in Fannin County. So Don learned of the value of education early in his life. Don was an athletic young man and proficient in all sports available to him at Mineral Bluff and East Fannin High School. He played offensive and defensive end on the gridiron, was a high-scoring forward on the basketball court and played centerfield on the baseball diamond. The East Fannin football teams won sub-region championships in 1958 and 1959. Don played enough to earn a letter in 1958 and became a starter as a sophomore in 1959. He played both offense and defense and, since the Wildcats suffered from perennial depth issues, often played the entire game without a break. A two-week span during September of 1959 saw Don enjoy the high-point of his high school football career followed by his biggest disappointment on the field. The Wildcats faced arch-rival Union County on a Saturday evening in September on the East Fannin field in Morganton. Coach Babe Howell assigned Don Clement with the task of stopping a star Union County running back. Don was instructed to shadow the running back on every play. As a result, he made an astounding 22 tackles in the contest, leading the Wildcats to a 25-12 victory. Just under two weeks later, Don suffered a broken leg in a 7-7 tie with the Georgia School for the Deaf. The injury shelved him for the remainder of his sophomore year. Don rebounded from the injury and returned to post stellar seasons in basketball and football for two years. His highlights during those two years came during the basketball seasons. He had a 52-point scoring performance against the Young Harris freshman team and, in a game against Copper Basin, he outscored the entire Basin team with a 42-point outburst. Copper Basin only scored 40 points as a team. In another game he put 26 points on the scoreboard in the first half of a game against Union County before exiting the game with an injury just before halftime. Overall he averaged over 15 points per game during his junior and senior seasons. On a team level, Don was elected as co-captain of both the Wildcat football and basketball teams during his senior year. His classmates selected him as the Most Athletic senior boy in the 1962 graduating class. He was also a member of the Big E Club and Key Club at East Fannin, serving as an officer in both groups. After high school, Don was an MP in the US Army for two years before continuing his education. He graduated from Young Harris in 1967 and earned a BBA degree in Management from the University of Georgia in 1969. While at Young Harris he played for the freshman basketball team. Don has been an avid runner for his entire adult life. He has completed four marathons including the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in 1983. He ran in his first Peachtree Road Race in 1973 and completed his 49th race on July 4, 2021. With some 60,000 participants, the Peachtree Road Race has become the largest 10K event in the world. Participating in the race has become something of a family affair for the Clement clan. Don’s wife and two children often run with him in the event. Don and Annette Godfrey Clement were married in 1986. They have two children, Leia, 32, and Landon, 28. Don began a career with the Department of Labor in 1974 and retired in 2001. The word ‘retire’, however, hardly seems to apply to Don Clement. He began a personal business in property development in 1980 and continues to stay very busy with his business today. He was one of the founders of the Blue Ridge Mountain Parade of Homes and serves on the Board of Directors of that group. He has been a member of the Board of Directors of the United Community Bank of Blue Ridge for 18 years and of the United Community Bank of McCaysville for 25 years, including 17 years as chairman. His other community and civic contributions include eight years on the Young Harris Board of Associates, four years on the Fannin County High School Advisory Committee and 8 years on the Board of Directors of the Northeast Georgia Chapter of the American Red Cross. His athletic contributions include eight years of officiating elementary basketball games and coach of several youth football, basketball, baseball and softball teams for a number of years. Don Clement is a charter member of the Board of the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame. Now in his late 70s, Don shows no signs of slowing down. A lot of people and groups, including the Fannin County Sports Hall of Fame, hope he keeps on running forever.