Chaparral Coffee Club (CCC)

Clark was a long-time friend in the Powerful Living Class at Scottsdale Bible Church.  Clark was a key part of our monthly Men's Breakfast (he brought the gravy from Randy's) for our traditional biscuits and gravy. I joined Clark for several years for the Weiser, Idaho Fiddle Festival along with several friends from Scottsdale. Clark had been a regular attendee for over 50 years and had several seats reserved in the very center of Row 1.  He knew many of the contestants and they knew him.  During the day Clark would take us on a scenic tour of central Idaho and return to Weiser High School for the evening performance.  Clark was very disappointed when he couldn't go to Weiser in 2024 due to dialysis treatments.  Clark was very proud of his service as "gleaner" providing produce for local food banks. He kept us entertained with stories about his adventures securing and transporting the produce.  He also was very involved managing the ushers for the spring training baseball games in Scottsdale Stadium.  I think his favorite passtime was ocean cruising and he and Martha worked as "hosts" on cruises in exchange for big discounts on the cruise fares.  After Martha's passing in 2017, he found another  friend,  Sue Gottler, who went on several cruises with  Clark.  Sue stayed close to Clark during his hospital stays after finding him stranded on the floor of his trailer and calling for emergency help getting him up and to the hospital in the summer of 2024.  This was probably "the beginning of the end" for Clark with kidney failure and bladder cancer taking its toll.  We lost a good friend this past Wednesday!

May you rest in peace Clark. Our major accomplishment in life was the nurturing of two beautiful daughters. Nothing can match that.

Thank you for everything grandpa. All of the good memories and happiness you provided. Hope you and Buddy are looking down on us right now. 

Sending our love and prayers to Clark’s family. We met Clark through Martha and right off the bat he felt like an old friend we had known for years. I always remember him so fondly as he cared for Martha the last few years. I told her once in the end days, “this is why God put Clark in your life, He knew you would need an angel”. She smiled and said you’re so right. Hope they are ”cruising” thru heaven now. God bless. 

I met Clark at the Fiddle Contest in Weiser about a dozen years ago.  He had  VIP front row center seats reserved for himself and some friends season after season and I had reserved seats behind him for years too.  So a friendship was formed.  I was always struck by his friendliness, warmth, generosity to everyone there.  Contestants' families always knew he would share his vacant seats for them to get choice viewing and photos of their friends/family who were performing.  As did local photographers who took photos for the Association and newspaper.   He had an infectious smile and a ready laugh and listened to one and all.  Everyone loved Clark.  He especially loved the kid contestants and and went to basically every contest, almost always bestowing an encouraging and audible "Good job!' to the contestant as they walked off the stage regardless of the actual performance.  It wasn't fake.  It takes courage to get up and perform in front of an audience and he was sincere in his praise.  He was generous with his attention to others too and always interested in how they were doing.  He had a keen ear for the music and was very knowledgeable.  He tried his best to teach me the difference in sound between the 5 string and 6 string accompanying guitars though he had a very poor student with a wooden ear.  Most of what I learned about/from Clark was the quality of his heart and the integrity of his character which were great.  He called me this past Spring to tell me that he wouldn't be going to Weiser this year but would be in Texas instead with family for medical treatment and that his seats would be available.  I was there in June, using and sharing Clark's seats with folks and photographers, enjoying the music and missing his friendship and company.  He will be missed.  But not forgotten for a very long time.

Anson Berg

Little Fall Creek, Oregon

Sorry for your loss and our loss too.