OSCEOLA COUNTY — A beloved Osceola County bow hunter has died.
Claude Pollington was 93 years old.
His legacy will continue through the business he created, his love of Northern Michigan deer hunting, and the lives he touched through selfless community initiatives.
“There are many, many people who know him. And he was a nice man. He was a gentleman, and he was interested in other people, he was a good guy,” said friend Jean Orvis.
Pollington was born in 1931 and died last Friday, having left a massive impact on the Marion community and neighboring towns.
He was a U.S. Navy veteran who took pride in serving his community and opening a machining tool company.
His daughter Pennie Miller said his work ethic was unmatched.
“He was always good to me. He really cherished work and having a good work ethic. And that’s one thing he instilled in me so I would work as hard as I could to help,” said Miller.
“He was a businessman, he had a factory and he had other businesses that he had his whole life. And he employed, well, quite a few people,” said Orvis. “He was very involved in deer hunting, and this is a deer hunting community. Claude was very generous with his time and helping people hunting and so on.”
Bow-hunting deer was a favorite pastime of Pollington’s.
It would be an understatement to say that he was known for it, he was a bonafide deer hunting legend in Northern Michigan. So much so that he became friends with rock star Ted Nugent and historically had the unmitigated gall to tell Nugent he didn’t like his music, but he could still visit his ranch if he just wanted to hunt.
“They met through Dave Richie who was a writer and they just hit it off real well, that’s how he met him. And it was all about hunting for the two of them. My dad liked country music and he really wasn’t into (Nugent’s) music thing, so he’d say he can come up, but he doesn’t need to play anything,” Miller said.
Miller says the thing she’ll miss most about her dad is indescribable.
“I’ll just miss him being around, ya know,” she said.
