Clarence Thomas Bellknap Jr. (known to all as Bud) was born on July 25, 1933, in Mobile, Alabama to the late Clarence Thomas Bellknap and Mary Elizabeth Gibbons. He passed away peacefully at the age of 92 on June 5, 2026, with his wife Rose Emma Breaux at his bedside in Huntsville, Alabama.
Bud grew up in the small town of Grand Bay, Alabama, helping his father raise turkeys and picking Baldwin County watermelons. After graduating from high school, Bud joined the Navy at age 17 in 1950 at the beginning of the Korean War. He was stationed in Pearl Harbor working as a radar technician on a destroyer.
After completing his deployment, Bud returned home, married Rose, and went to work for Raytheon, developing maintenance and training programs for both the Hawk and Patriot missiles. His work led him and his family to assignments in Huntsville, France, Taiwan, Germany, Massachusetts, and El Paso over a 35-year span.
Bud was known for his kindness, steady wisdom, amazing memory, and compassion for those he worked with. The activities he enjoyed the most included serving as Cub Master for the Madison Pike Elementary School Pack, fly fishing, camping, vacations, amusement park trips (especially those with a log flume ride) with his kids and grandkids across the United States and dressing up as Santa Claus each Christmas. Bud was particularly proud of his 30 years of family tree research. He spent many years at various libraries and visited dozens of graveyards. He had at least two records to support every line on his tree.
Bud was preceded in death by his father, Clarence Thomas Bellknap, his mother, Mary Elizabeth Gibbons Bellknap, his older brother, William Cecil Bellknap, his sister, Mary Evelyn Bellknap Nelson, and brother, Robert Earl Bellknap.
Bud is survived by his beloved wife of 71 years, Rose Emma Breaux Bellknap and his three children, Roland Thomas Bellknap (Patricia), Daniel William Bellknap (Kathy), and Janet Rose Bellknap Burns (Craig). Bud left behind seven grandchildren, David Bellknap (Ericka), Nicholas Bellknap (Cathy), Jennifer Burns Glass (James), Danielle Bellknap Humphrey (Jason), Amy Burns Zook (Matthew), Emily Bellknap Durrance (Chad), and Laura Burns Ingerson (Michael), as well as eight great-grandchildren, Kaleb, Jaxson, Amelia, Madeline, Joshua, Landon, Natalie, and Asher.
Visitation will be held on Saturday June 13, 2026, at 10:00 a.m. followed by a Celebration of Life at 11:00 a.m. at Laughlin Service Funeral Home in Huntsville, Alabama.
