The Joplin Globe, Joplin, MO

Joplin Metro

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November 25, 2009

Funeral for soldier killed in Afghanistan scheduled in Galena

From staff reports

news@joplinglobe.com

Services for John Cleaver, a former area soldier who was killed last week in Afghanistan, will be conducted at 3:30 p.m. Sunday in the Galena (Kan.) High School auditorium.

The Rev. Jill Cameron Michel will officiate. The family will receive friends from 2:30 p.m. Sunday until service time in the auditorium. After the service and military honors, the body will be cremated under the direction of Parker Mortuary.

A military escort is to accompany the body to Joplin, as well as accompany the body from Joplin to the high school for the service.

Military honors will include a rifle salute, taps, a presentation of the American flag and a presentation of medals.

Staff Sgt. Cleaver died Nov. 19 when a truck bomb exploded in Zabul province. He and Staff Sgt. Daniel Frazier, of St. Joseph, Mich., were delivering supplies to a forward operating base when they were killed.

Cleaver was with Company E, 1st Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, with the 82nd Airborne Division.

Master Sgt. Gary Qualls, with the 82nd Airborne Division, said services also were held in Afghanistan.

Cleaver, 36, who listed his home as Marysville, Wash., attended elementary and middle school in Joplin, and high school in Galena. He attended Henderson State University in Arkadelphia, Ark., where he learned to fly small aircraft, and Crowder College in Neosho, where he became certified as an emergency medical technician. He also served as a volunteer firefighter in Carl Junction.

Survivors include his parents, Teresa and Ronald Cleaver, of Joplin.





Donations

Memorial contributions may be made to one of three charities, the John Cleaver Memorial Fund for Wounded Soldiers, the Galena Board of Education John Cleaver Memorial, or South Joplin Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), in care of Parker Mortuary.

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