Clerf Lake was named after Claude Clerf.
Claude Clerf was born in Greenwood, B.C. in 1923 and came to Chilliwack in 1926 where he attended Chilliwack Elementary School. Clerf joined the medical corp of the army in 1941 and served overseas with the 4th Platoon, 2nd company Royal Canadian Army Military Corps. Clerf sustained an injury, which caused him to return to Canada. He died in Shaughnessy Hospital in 1943.
Clerf Lake is located beneath Mount Klesilkwa, east of the divide between the Chilliwack and Skagit drainages east of Chilliwack Lake.
In 1947, geographical features were named by an agency of the federal government, the Canadian Permanent Committee on Geographical names after receiving a list of names of Canadian servicemen from Chilliwack who were killed during the Second World War From Canada’s Department of National Defence. The names were divided by province and were to be assigned to geographical features close to the place of enlistment (Grainger, 1998, p.82).
References:
- Grainger, N. (1998). The Mountain Project. Chilliwack, B.C.: Neil Grainger
Photograph caption: Private Claude George Clerf. [Chilliwack Museum and Archives photograph]