Batesville business leader dies in Florida

Bonita Springs, Fla. — WRBI News has learned former president and CEO of Hill-Rom John Clawson has passed away in Bonita Springs, Florida.

Clawson started working on his father’s farm in Utah at an early age, then began working at a Seattle shipyard while completing high school. After serving in the U.S. Army from 1945 to 1947 he took a three year mission trip to Copenhagen with the Church of the Latter-Day Saints. In 1953 he graduated from Brigham Young University and received an MBA from Harvard in 4955.

Mr. Clawson held leadership positions with Thonet Manufacturing and DeSoto Furniture until he came to Batesville as the COO for Hill-Rom in 1976. He quickly rose to president and served in a period that Hill-Rom became a global leader in hospital beds and a true leader in the health care industry.

Services will be held Saturday, June 9 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 20601 Three Oaks Parkway in Estero, Florida 33928. In lieu of flowers the family has requested memorials be made to Loggerhead Turtle conservation or Hope Hospice.