More detail on this person: Jeffrey T. Clark
peacefully passed away on May 22, 2014. He and
his wife Laura enjoyed forty-four years of
adventure together, including service and life in
faraway places like Germany, the Marshall Islands
and Georgia. With three children and three
grandchildren, he will be sorely missed by those
he left behind. A warrior all of his life, he
served his country for twenty two years in the
United States Army, serving first in the Big Red
One in Vietnam, and then in the First Military
Intelligence Battalion in Germany. His daughters
will remember polishing his service boots, water
skiing around Kwajalein Island in the Pacific and
showing Bagheera the bunny at the Saratoga
County Fair. His wife will remember traveling
across country while first married, visiting art
museums in Europe and going on various trail
running, snow shoeing and kayaking expeditions in
the Saratoga area. He was exceptionally
community service oriented, serving as a Judge for
the Town of Northumberland, helping St. PeterâÇÖs
Parish and the Special Olympics and perhaps his
proudest achievement was serving as the President
of the Saratoga Springs Downtown Business
Association. While his time was far too short, he
leaves behind a rich legacy of family, friends and
colleagues who are enriched by his life. He has
left behind his much loved wife, Laura and three
children; Julie Suarez, Jill Woolley and Jacky
Gilchrist. He was blessed with three sons-in-law,
Darren Suarez, Robert Woolley and Grady Gilchrist,
along with three grandchildren Elena and Emilia
Suarez and Bryce Arlene Woolley. He leaves
behind Walter J. Clark, his father from Cobleskill
and brothers John and Robert Clark and his sister
Mary Swartz. Relatives and friends may call from 4
to 7pm Tuesday May 27, 2014 at the Burke Funeral
Home, 628 North Broadway 584-5373. A funeral
Mass will be celebrated at 9:30am Wednesday in
the Church of St. Peter, 241 Broadway. Burial with
military honors will follow at 11am at the Gerald
BH Solomon Saratoga National Cemetery.
Memorials may be made in JeffâÇÖs name to the
Wounded Warrior Project, PO Box 758517, Topeka,
KS 66675 to honor his memory. Online
remembrances may be made at
burkefuneralhome.com.
Published in The Saratogian on May 24, 2014
SARATOGA SPRINGS >> Well-known
businessman and highly decorated Vietnam veteran
Jeff Clark passed away Wednesday night at his
home, surrounded by loved ones, following a brave
battle with cancer.
Clark was Downtown Business Association
president and had recently retired as an
Ameriprise Financial Services Inc. franchisee in
Saratoga Springs.
Calling hours will be from 4 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at
Burke Funeral Home. Funeral services will be
Wednesday morning at St. Peter's Church, followed
by internment at Gerald B.H. Solomon-Saratoga
National Cemetery in Stillwater.
"His heart was in Saratoga Springs," said Susan
Farnsworth, DBA director of promotions and
marketing. "Every letter he wrote he finished by
saying what a privilege it was to live and work
here. He was so involved; always generous with his
time. Most important, he was totally devoted to
his wife of 43 years, Laura."
The couple has three daughters _ Julie, Jill and
Jackie _ and several grandchildren.
Clark, a Ticonderoga native, enjoyed kayaking and
would always accompany his wife for long-distance
running events she competed in.
He volunteered for hospice and Special Olympics
and was a Saratoga County Chamber of Commerce
volunteer ambassador. Clark was also a 2001
Leadership Saratoga graduate, had been a
Northumberland town justice and spent six years on
the Brookside Museum board in Ballston Spa.
Professionally and personally, Clark was greatly
concerned about the well-being of America's
veterans, especially those in the army's First
Infantry Division _ the legendary "Big Red 1" _
that he served with in Vietnam. Clark's first tour
was from 1969-70, flying a Huey helicopter,
sometimes quite low to the ground making him
vulnerable to enemy fire.
"Our mission was to find trouble and engage," he
said in a 2008 interview.
In 1972, after coming home and learning how to fly
airplanes, he went back to Vietnam for another
full year's duty. Later, he spent four years
flying some of the most sophisticated aircraft
ever built, such as the OV-1 Mohawk, whose
side-looking radar kept track of Soviet tank
movements near the border of East Germany.
This brought regular encounters with Soviet MiG
fighters.
Clark spent the last four years of his service
flying VIPs to all parts of the globe, from
ambassadors to four-star generals.
During his military service he was awarded 48 air
medals, including one with a "V" for valor, a
Distinguished Flying Cross, two Bronze Stars and a
Legion of Merit.
Afterward, he flew briefly for Pan American
Airlines and then worked for Johnson Controls as
an aviation safety manager in the Marshall
Islands, where rocket scientists were doing Star
Wars missile shield research. However, he and
Laura began yearning for a move back to upstate
New York and a travel piece they read about
Saratoga Springs was all the encouragement they
needed.
Clark was extremely proud of his family, his
military service and today's young Americans who
are following in his footsteps.
"Sometimes we take this country for granted," he
once said. "Whether it's providing money for AIDS
research in Africa or community service and
charities here at home, it's just a marvelous,
marvelous country with some of the best people on
Earth."
From:
http://www.saratogian.com/social-affairs/20140522/
jeff-clark-dba-president-decorated-vietnam-veteran
-passes-away
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