Lt. Col. Chester M. Clark Obituary

Chester Morris Clark died on Tuesday, September 9, at Phoebe North at the age of 90 years old. A native of Albany, Mr. Clark returned here to live following his retirement from the U.S. Army in 1966. He attended Albany High School and the Citadel in Charleston, S.C. before joining the Army in 1943. He worked his way up through the ranks in the Army, graduated from the University of Omaha and the Commanding Staff College, and attained the rank of Lieutenant Colonel as a Paratroop Specialist. Colonel Clark participated in the final years of World War II, the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, the conflict in Laos that led into the Vietnam War, and the U.S. armed intervention in the Dominican Republic. It was in Berlin during the tense times of the Airlift operation that he met his future wife, Doris Arbuckle, who was working with the Allied Kommandatura occupation forces. The couple was married in 1950 in a military ceremony in Berlin and travelled the world together at their various postings before retiring to Albany, where many of Mr. Clark's family lived. Mrs. Clark died in 2003. In Albany, Mr. Clark worked with his brothers running Clark Bros. Warehouses for approximately 25 years until retirement. He was a member of the Albany Rotary Club. Until recently Chet regularly attended the Gillionville Road YMCA where, still living by his military schedule, he would arrive every day as soon as the building opened at 5 a.m. He was an avid golfer and for many years could be found most weekends on the course at Doublegate Country Club. Born on December 11, 1923, Mr. Clark was the son of the late Eugene Raine Clark and Eileen Hope Clark of Albany. He is survived by his brothers Eugene R. Clark, Jr. of Albany, and Jesse Beall Clark of Land O' Lakes, Fla, and by his nieces and nephews Lisa C. Kelley of Albany, Peter Clark of New York, NY, Hope Fontanes, Jesse B. Clark, Jr., Claudia Stewart, and Brett Clark of Tampa, Fla. and their families. Mr. Clark was a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church where his grandmother, Eugenia Coley Clark, had been a charter member of the parish's founding in 1851, and where he was baptized as a child. His funeral will be held at St. Paul's on Friday, September 12, at 11 a.m. The family will receive visitors in the church parish house at 10 a.m. before the service and asks that, in lieu of flowers, donations be made to St. Paul's Church , 212 N. Jefferson St., Albany, GA 31701,or the Alzheimer's Association (www.alz.org) . Interment will be at Oakview Cemetery.

Lt. Col. Chester M. Clark Obituary

December 11, 1923 - September 9, 2014