On the morning of January 9th, 2026 John Berry Clarke passed away at his home in Midlothian, Virginia after a brief battle with lung cancer. Survived by his two sons, John Berry Clarke Jr. and David Alan Clarke, his daughter, Kristina Nicole Clarke and granddaughter, Charlotte Olivia Clarke. He was preceded in death by his mother and father, Martha and Sterling Clarke, his brother, Sterling Clarke Jr., his wife, Carla Romagnoli Clarke, and his son, Shaun Berry Clarke.

Known to his family back home as “Tony”, to Charlotte as Gramps, and pretty much everyone else as “Old Man”, it’s so fitting that he made it to his 90th birthday by some hours. He was born in Lunenburg County, Virginia on January 9, 1936 and spent the first 18 years of his life between the small towns of Victoria and Keysville on his family’s farm, embodying an Eagle Scout, playing and even officiating sports before heading off to college in ROTC at Virginia Polytechnic Institute. Transferring to what was then RPI (now VCU) and then on to Syracuse University, he spent the next decade in the United States Air Force. Having met his first wife in New York, his job took him all over the world but ultimately landed them in Japan where David and John Jr. were born.

With his career in the service behind him, the next 5 decades were full of adventure, travel, taking care of his family and lots and lots of sports officiating - mostly umpiring baseball. If he wasn’t on a ball field calling strikes, he was teaching his nieces and nephews how to hit grand slams or throw a mean screw ball. His son could switch hit and throw a perfect out at 2nd from behind the plate, no question. His daughter could fake anyone out with a drop ball on the pitchers mound, but he never hesitated to be the first one at her dance recitals in slacks and a tie with flowers in his hand, too. He raised his two oldest boys to be the best gentlemen he could, and damn if they haven’t made him proud. And Charlotte…man, if you could see the glimmer in his eyes every time that name was spoken, it was just the most special bond to witness.

He couldn’t have been more proud of his kids and the life he worked so hard for from day one. Having lived through a world war, into a new millennium and another quarter century, he saw it all. Cut from a cloth that just doesn’t exist anymore, his charisma, presence and spirit is deeply, sorely missed. 

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