Obituary of Clive Elvyn Rice

(Ret) U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer Clive E. Rice shipped out on his last deployment Wednesday, February 17, 2016 due to cancer. Clive was born in Haslemere, Surrey, England January 17, 1941 and immigrated with his family to Stamford, Connecticut October 1950. During the golden age of radio he performed from 1951 to 1955 on New York radio station MBS (Mutual Broadcasting System) as the "Kid Cowboy"- Bobby Benson of the B-B, and also on New York Television Station WOR. He traveled coast to coast promoting the program with personal appearances, singing, riding in parades, and meeting his many fans. September 1951 he performed in Roanoke, Virginia at Victory Stadium, and sang when visiting the polio victims at Roanoke Memorial Hospital. He graduated from Stamford High School in June 1959 and then enlisted in the U.S. Navy, in which he made a career, and retired from that service in January 1981. Clive was preceded in death by his father George Reginald Rice (1981), his mother Mabel Annie (Clarke) Rice (1998), and his joy in life, his wife, Betty Ann (Phillips) Rice (2012) of Floyd, Virginia, whom he called "Braveheart". He is survived by his sister Rosemary Ann (Rice) Allsop of Milford, Connecticut, his step-daughter, Marth Ann (Howlett) Massey and husband James Lee of Macon, Georgia, his son, Richard Michael Rice and wife Elizabeth "Gerrie" (Stephenson) of Vero Beach, Florida, and daughter, Danielle Marie (Rice) Torino, of North Augusta, South Carolina; grandchildren, Katherine Ann, Ashley Elizabeth, and Jamie Leigh Massey, Brianna Marie (Rice) LeMaster, and husband Joshua Allen, Jordan Michael (Rice) Wallace and wife Lindsay Rhea, and Jessica Torino; great grandchild, Sianna LeMaster; and nephews, Gregory and Jeffrey Allsop, and niece Pamela Diane Allsop. The "Chief" enjoyed woodworking, painting, his yard, and reading. In the year 2000 he was instrumental in creating the Naval Exhibit "Ships and Shipmates" that was sponsored by the History Museum in Center in the Square. His passion was Civil War history, and his extensive library was proof. He was a life time member (1956-2016) of the Roanoke Civil War Round Table in which he served as president, preservation chairman, and treasurer. Clive, for the Round Table, arranged battlefield tours, the annual banquets, seminars, picnics, and made sure things ran correctly. He loved his cousins, and treasured his friends. To quote one of his best friends - "Remember in life- we are only visitors". In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to the Roanoke Civil War Round Table with the memo - Preservation Funeral services will be conducted 4 p.m. Saturday, February 20, 2016 at Simpson Funeral Home 5160 Peters Creek Road by Dr. Jack Lowe. Private inurnment will be at a later date in Jacksonville Cemetery Floyd, Virginia. The family will receive friends from 2-4 p.m. Saturday at Simpson Funeral Home. 366-0707