Clarence Priser sits behind the counter in his Main Street business as he recalls his life.

Priser reflects on his life

"I want to be a witness. That's what Jesus said you had to be," said Clarence Priser.

That's how Priser summed up his philosophy: "Believe what Jesus said. He'll tell you what is and what isn't."

Priser, who will be 96 on Nov. 12, is probably Alleghany County's oldest resident holding down a regular job. He operates Christian Views bookstore on Main Street in Sparta two days a week.

Coming to Alleghany and buying the store, then later taking over the running of it himself, are relatively recent developments in a life that began almost a century ago, when Teddy Roosevelt was president, and cars and airplanes were novelties. Priser has also been a minister, a portrait photographer and a school teacher.

Born in Montgomery County, Ohio, Priser got his four-year degree from Manchester College in Indiana. At age 20 he became a minister with the Church of the Brethren. He said he has never taken a regular salary as a minister. "I've been in trouble with other preachers for doing that (refusing a salary)." Teaching School

He was also a teacher in three different school systems in Ohio. There,

Priser said he experienced some intense opposition. His class won an award for having the most pupils who attended church and Sunday school. "They said I was too religious."

He recalled a troublesome seventh grader named Raymond who was smoking a cigarette just outside the school. "I knocked it out of his hand. He was going to hit me. I said, 'Don't hit me; I'm not going to hit you. There's other ways of taking care of this.'"

Priser expelled Raymond. "I didn't know I had a right to expel somebody, but he didn't know it either."

Get the rest of this article in this week's issue of the Alleghany News! Back