Area Businessman Passes from ALS
A well-known area businessman has passed away, after a nearly two-year long battle with ALS. John Cleek Sr., of Columbia, who operated “Cleeks” stores in mid-Missouri as part of a family business for parts of eight decades, passed away Wednesday at University Hospital in Columbia.
“Tiger John” Cleek Sr. began at Cleek’s at the age 15. His father, Elmo, started the store in 1956. John took over the business in 1973, at the age of 23, when his father died in a plane crash returning to Columbia from a football game at Iowa State.
