URBANA:  Clair A. Strait, age 83, died Tuesday, January 23, 2007 at St. Luke's Hospital in Cedar Rapids following a brief illness.
     Funeral Services will be held at 10:30 AM, Friday, January 26, 2007 at Phillips Funeral Home Chapel, 212 E. 6th St., in Vinton with Rev. Tom Felts officiating.  Interment will be held at the Urbana Cemetery with Graveside Military Rites conducted by the Walter J. Meyocks American Legion Post #264 of Urbana.  Friends may call at the funeral home from 4 to 7 PM on Thursday.  A Memorial Fund has been established for the Legion Post in Urbana.
     Claire was born July 15, 1923 to Ben and Ella (Hanson) Strait.  During World War II he served his nation in the U.S. Army.
     On February 8, 1947 he married Lucy Mae Liebsch at Cedar Rapids,  She preceded him in death in 1991.
     Clair was employed as a Steel Worker at Iowa Steel in Cedar Rapids for thirty years prior to his retirement.  He was a member of the Walter J. Meyocks American Legion Post #264 in Urbana.  Clair collected and enjoyed working on Farm All and John Deere Tractors and gasoline engines.
      He is survived by his daughters, Byrl (Theodore) Price of Urbana, and Marie Burns of Cedar Rapids; his grandchildren, Kipp (Julie) Price of Urbana, Kendra (Mitchell) Mensen of Urbana, and Wayne (Tammy) Burns of Cedar Rapids; his great-grandchildren, Nathan, Mandy and Whitney Price, Tucker and Levi Mensen, and Tiffany, Brianna and Rachel Burns; his sister, Lois Carmen of Vinton; and his brother, Fay Strait of Center Point.
      In addition to his parents and wife, he was preceded in death by his brother, Bud Strait.