| Joseph D. Clemmons, Sr. | |
| Birth Date: | 1929 |
| Birth Place: | Brooklyn, New York[1] |
| Residence: | Norwalk, Connecticut |
| Office: | Member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from the 140th District |
| Term Start: | 1997 |
| Term End: | January 8, 2003 |
| Predecessor: | Donnie Sellers |
| Successor: | Joseph Mann |
| Party: | Democratic |
| Alma Mater: | Long Island University (BA in Spanish, 1952)[2] Yale Divinity School (MA in divinity, 1989)[3] Colgate Rochester Divinity School (D Min) |
| Spouse: | Loretta G Shields (1931–1985)[4] Geraldine Clemmons Frankie Marie Collier |
| Children: | five children Joseph, Jr., Angela |
Joseph D. Clemmons, Sr. (born 1929) is a former three term Democratic member of the Connecticut House of Representatives from Norwalk, Connecticut's 140th assembly district from 1997 to 2003. He also served on the Norwalk Common Council beginning in 1995.
He is the son of Frank Clemmons, founder of the First Church of God In Christ in Brooklyn, New York.[3] He attended Long Island University and Howard University.[1] He earned a Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School and a Doctor of Ministry degree from Colgate Rochester Divinity School.[3] Clemmons was ordained by Bishop O.M. Kelly in 1952.[5] In 1975, he was a Martin Luther King fellow, and in that capacity, he traveled to West Africa, Nigeria and Ghana.[1] He was an Elementary School Teacher in Baltimore and a Middle and High School Teacher in Bridgeport and Norwalk.[1] [2] In 1979, he retired as a certified teacher of Spanish to devote full-time to the ministry.[3] He is a former president of the Hampton University Ministers' Conference, in Hampton, Virginia and he continues to serve on its executive board.[3] He was inducted into the Morehouse College of Preachers in 1988.[5] Clemmons is the founder of Miracle Temple Church of God in Christ in Norwalk.[5]
Clemmons was elected to the Norwalk Common Council in 1995.[3] He was elected to the Connecticut House of Representatives in a special election in February 1997 and was re-elected in November 1998[3] [5] defeating Republican Jon J. Velez and also re-elected in November 2000.[6]