Clae Montgomery asked to be relieved of his position as President of the MTA at the annual meeting of the MTA on July 7, 1967 due to health conditions. Clae had served as president, secretary-treasurer, and ATA delegate for some 15 years. He was a driving force at the Birmingham Gun Club for many years. He died of a heart attack while hunting November 26, 1980. The 73-year-old shooter was from Terre Haute, Indiana but had formerly resided in Detroit. He held offices with the MTA from 1952 through 1965.
The ATA life member shot his first trap targets in 1949 and joined the association one year later. He attended many Grand Americans, including 11 consecutive ones between 1952 and 1962. He was also present at several tournaments since. Clae Montgomery had registered 62,250 singles targets by the end of the 1980 target year.
During the 1956 Grand, Clae Montgomery’s 199 x 200 in the Dayton Homecoming tied five others for first place. He then downed 98 x 100 in overtime plus 23 in carryover to take runner-up laurels. He earned his first state title in 1952 when he topped the Michigan handicap championship field and the following year he won second-place honors in the same race. He repeated as handicap runner-up in 1963 after losing out in the shoot-off for the top spot. In 1970 he moved to Indiana where he earned the veteran singles title at the 1974 state shoot. In 1976 he received the Class C trophy in overtime during the Michigan State Bicentennial singles race.
Clae Montgomery had for many years been a member of the Birmingham (Michigan) Gun Club and in later years at the Oaktown (Indiana) Gun Club. He was also active in the Masonic Lodge.
(* Deceased)