Clifton Edward Sparkman, 92, was born Jan. 4, 1924 to C.E. (Clifton) and Ethel Miller Sparkman in the Bone Cave community of Van Buren County. The fourth of six children, he grew up on a farm that had the long heritage of an early pioneering family with influence in the center of the community. Young Edward was known to have played and camped with his brothers in the Big Bone Cave as a youngster, attended local schools and eventually worked driving the school bus to Spencer, served his country in the U.S. Army, and had the blessing of marrying the love of his life, the former Miss Wilma Ruth Mooneyham.