Contributions to the tribute of Robert E. Clark

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Sunday, January 29, 2023

Brother Dave I miss my big brother He gave me my first bicycle. Took me fishing one Easter Sunday, I was about 12 we went to the Saugatuck River. I caught my first trout, yes it was a CP SWING! There's 8 years difference between us, but he was always there for me. Always called me his big little brother! I always called him on his birthday and it amazed him I remembered. He called me on my 75th birthday, and that was very special to me. He had no equal for drywall finishing. He shared one of his secrets. Buy quality tools and file all the corners round. It makes a big difference, but I'll never come close to his skill! I want to thank Kevin for being there for Bob. I know how much he appreciated it. Kevin let me know when he would be there with Bob. The only way to get through to him (the phone system at Apple Rehab sucks big time!) I spoke to Bob briefly (Kevin brought him pizza) Asked Bob if he wanted to talk or eat pizza. He said eat pizza.. Last time we talked When we meet again I'll bring a CP Swing # 3 if I remember correctly!

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Cathy Gilbertie Knipper posted a condolence

Thursday, January 26, 2023

Kevin: I did not know your dad, but I heard he was a great adventurer. I know you were devoted to caring for him during his last days. May your memories of him and your mom bring you peace and comfort. Cathy (Gilbertie) Knipper

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Barbara Miro posted a condolence

Sunday, January 15, 2023

Kevin, I was sorry to hear about the passing of your dad. I can only smile of the reunion with your mom, my mom and dad and Uncle Bill! There's lots for him to catch up on! The generation that was our parents are almost gone and we're left with nostalgia and memories. It's best to remember the happy times and there were plenty. I'm sorry for your loss. Barbara Miro

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Bob Clark uploaded photo(s)

Friday, January 13, 2023

The famous The Fisherman picture...

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Kerri Clark posted a symbolic gesture

Friday, January 13, 2023

Praying that the Clark boys find comfort in their fond memories of a "one of a kind” dad. Sincerely, Kerri

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Kevin clark uploaded photo(s)

Friday, January 13, 2023

Spent more time with my dad in the last 2 yrs visiting him in the nursing home and listening to all his fishing stories. We would call all his friends and family and listen to old music on you tube. Oh and pizza! We ate lots of sausage and mushroom pizza. His favorite. He was a hit with the activities women. Always flirting. He said to me one day.After his most recent hospital stay. "I dont want to hear anything about worry it brings stress" As he noticed i was upset. He was so strong!! Even near the end. I held his hand and he forced a big smile. I left in tears. But i will remember the happy days. Son #2 Kevin Clark

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Bob Clark uploaded photo(s)

Friday, January 13, 2023

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Bob Clark posted a condolence

Friday, January 13, 2023

Thoreau famously wrote in his classic book Walden that “the mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation”. This did not describe my dad. Wealth and blind ambition were not words in my father’s lexicon. Instead, he had a passion for life that infected many of those he preferred to spend time around. I was lucky enough to be one of those people, although I was his son as well. I will try to relay some of my most vivid memories of my father so you can share in his passion. My earliest memories of my Dad were him telling me that he really enjoyed his job as a drywall taper because he could work his own schedule, be by himself, and most importantly allow him to devote as much time as possible to fishing and hunting. Despite this, I knew that he really had a passion for taping because he was very fast, with little waste or mess; and at the same time he was meticulous about his tools and the quality of the work. He also had little patience for other home builders who were sloppy and didn’t care about the quality of their work. I found that he brought this same ethic and more to fishing and hunting, and it was infectious. As I grew older, we became fishing buddies. He would take me to the various tackle shops that he frequented and introduce me to his adult fishing buddies. At age 11, he introduced me to a State of Connecticut fishery biologist who described what he did for work to me. I was instantly hooked and could not think of becoming anything other than a fishery biologist. I started out fishing as my father did, with spinning gear and the CP Swing, or live mummychogs if the trout were wary of lures. Later, I found an old fly rod of his in the basement and began to teach myself how to cast and how to tie flies. He was amazed that I did not give up when I couldn’t catch anything at first, but understood that it had become a passion of mine. We fished small trout streams around southern Connecticut and New York for many years together. He also took me on fishing trips with his buddies. My fondest memory of this time is getting to skip high school to go up to the Adirondacks and fish for trout on the Ausable River. It was a fly fishing mecca to me, but he and his buddy would fish their CP Swings and catch way more trout than I did. He was very patient with me during these trips, and then started to introduce me to other fly fishermen that he knew so that I had someone else to learn from. He would also drive me to and drop me off at the mill pond near Sasco Beach to fly fish for alewives. Later on while I was in undergraduate school at Storrs, we would meet up at one of the nearby streams in New York state every April 1st for opening day of trout fishing. He even started coming with me to the ‘flies-only’ area of the Housatonic River to try to fly fish for trout with me. He also took me saltwater fishing by boat and from shore. My fondest early memory of saltwater fishing was a boat trip on Long Island Sound with one of his buddies and their son. We left very early in the day and as we were arriving on the fishing grounds, the sun started coming up on a beautiful morning. Then all of a sudden we came upon, as far as the eye could see, a massive school of bluefish breaking the surface! The sound of these large bluefish breaking the surface was so loud that we could not hear each other speak. Needless to say, the fishing was phenomenal that day. After I had moved to Alaska and started my career as a fishery biologist, I had the opportunity to invite my father and his buddy on the fishing trip of a lifetime. He had talked to me many times about being dropped off by floatplane on a remote river in Alaska, and floating and fishing his way downstream before being picked up and flying back to town. All three of us did just that – we flew from Anchorage to Dillingham Alaska by jet, flew to remote Goodnews Lake by floatplane, and rafted downstream on the Goodnews River for five wonderful days of fishing and camping before flying back to Anchorage. When he arrived at Goodnews Lake, he exclaimed out loud that he had died and gone to heaven! Finally, as I would come to more fully appreciate later in my life, my father was really all about striped bass fishing. And he was REALLY all about striped bass fishing in the surf using huge wooden lures, or ‘plugs’ as they are called. Again, he was meticulous about his equipment, preferring older reels and surf rods, and those wooden plugs. He would repaint the plugs when the original paint had been scratched off and put new hooks on each. After he and my mother moved to Rhode Island from Connecticut, I would travel there from Alaska to fish with him in the surf during those early mornings. It was extra special to fish the surf with him, as he was completely in his element, hunting down the large striped bass that work the beach at night and early morning looking for bait fish. He seemed like a fishing legend to me at that point. He was far from the perfect dad and he repeatedly exasperated my mom with his comings and goings and general lack of monetary motivation, but he lived his life with passion. No “quiet desperation” at all. We could all take a lesson from that. Robert (Bob) Allan Clark

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The family of Robert E. Clark uploaded a photo

Friday, January 13, 2023

Robert E. Clark

1933 - 2023

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