Clarence Shivers was a little kid when his big sister decided they’d play teacher and student and she had him draw things.
She laughingly told family members later that when she saw his work, she wondered “if it was good because I am such a great teacher.”
But it was Shivers’ talent, and art became his life.
Shivers died Saturday at a Colorado Springs hospice. He was 83. A celebration of his life is planned at 11 a.m. March 3 at Sunrise United Methodist Church in Colorado Springs.
Shivers started as a painter, but when the Air Force Academy wanted a statue of a Tuskegee Airman, he was asked to submit a model.
He had never done bronze work but learned how and then presented an 18-inch statue for his entry. It was chosen, and he did a life-size statue of the airman, which still stands on the academy grounds.
Shivers trained with the Tuskegee Airmen, the esteemed group of black fighter pilots in World War II. He loved flying, said his wife, Peggy, but the war ended before he got in the air.
Shivers had exhibits at the Denver Art Museum and did black-history calendars for Miller Brewing Co. The paintings toured nationally.
Clarence Shivers was born Oct. 14, 1923, in St. Louis and graduated from Sumner High School there. He was still in high school when he left to train in Tuskegee, Ala.
After the war ended, he went back to high school and then earned his bachelor of fine arts at Bradley University in Peoria, Ill.
Shivers was recalled to service in the Korean War and was a pilot instructor in the 1950s.
He married Margaret Reece, and they later divorced. On Nov. 29, 1969, he married Peggy Houston. They spent 10 years in Spain, and Shivers continued his artwork.
They settled in Colorado Springs when they returned and were active in community affairs. Several years ago, they started the semiannual Celebration, which brought African- American artists from all over the country to Colorado Springs.
In addition to his wife, Shivers is survived by two daughters, Saundra Jenkins of St. Louis and Karen Shivers Williams of Seattle; a son, Carver Shivers of Houston; a stepson, Hugh Flake of Fort Worth, Texas; seven grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and two great- great-grandchildren.
