Robert Phillips "Bob" Clark

CLARK, ROBERT PHILLIPS "BOB," 91, died peacefully on February 28, 2013 at Laurel Lake Retirement Community in Hudson, OH.

Mr. Clark was born on December 3, 1921 in Randolph, VT, to Rev. James S. and Gladys M. (Phillips) Clark. He attended Brattleboro High School and graduated from Tufts University in 1942, where he was a member of Delta Tau Delta Fraternity. He rose from private to captain in the Army infantry during World War II in the Pacific Theatre, where he was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart.

After the war, he earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of Missouri in 1948 and began his journalism career as a reporter on the Owensboro, Kentucky Messenger-Inquirer. In 1949, he began a 30-year career with the Louisville newspapers, joining The Courier-Journal as a reporter and science writer. He spent a year covering politics in the Courier-Journal's Washington bureau in 1958. He became managing editor of The Louisville Times in 1962, then executive editor of the Courier-Journal & Times in 1971. He was named Editor of the Year by the National Press Photographers Association in 1967. The Louisville newspapers won three Pulitzer Prizes during his tenure as managing editor and executive editor. In 1979 he became editor of The Florida Times-Union and Jacksonville Journal, and in 1983 became Vice President-News of Harte-Hanks Newspapers in San Antonio, Texas. After his retirement in 1987, he was a distinguished visiting professor at Baylor University from 1990-92 and served as an editorial consultant. Mr. Clark was president of the Associated Press Managing Editors Association (APME) in 1974-75 and of the American Society of Newspaper Editors (ASNE) in 1985-86. He served on the Board of directors for tthe International Press Institute. He was a member of the accrediting committee of the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. He was selected as one of 12 Nieman Fellows in Journalism at Harvard University in 1960-61 and served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror. He visited China in 1972 as part of the first delegation of journalists permitted to enter the country after the cold war. His special interests in journalism were ethics, education for journalism and increased diversity in newsrooms. He wrote two major reports for the Newspaper Association of America, Success Stories: What 28 Newspapers Are Doing to Gain and Retain Readers (1988) and Keys to Success: Strategies for Newspaper Marketing in the 90's (1989) as well as numerous other articles. He was a contributor to ASNE's American Editor Magazine.

He was also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists and a contributor to the Quill Journal. Mr. Clark was also active in his community, serving as a director of the Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary from 1968-1973; trustee of the Southwest School of Art and Craft from 1993-96; member of the Torch Club in San Antonio (president 1997-98) and contributor to The Torch; captain of the San Antonio Colony of the Society of Mayflower Descendents from 1999-2003, and member of the Board of Directors of the San Antonio Botanical Society from 1996-2004. In retirement, he was active as a photographer, capturing the beauty of nature through his camera lens. His photographs were published in various magazines and on calendars and postcards, and appeared in numerous photography shows.

At the time of his death, he was a member of the First Congregational Church of Hudson. Mr. Clark met and married his wife, Jeanne Orr Rice Clark, in Owensboro in 1949. They were married for 62 years.

He is survived by daughters, Patricia Orr Clark Roy (Timothy J. Roy) of Uniontown, OH and Elizabeth Phillips Clark Christiansen (Michael R. Christiansen) of Keene, NH; granddaughters, Susan Phillips Christiansen of Keene and Alison Ray Christiansen of Boston, as well as by several cousins, nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Jeanne Orr Rice Clark, in 2011; sisters, Margaret Clark Helyar, Winifred R. Clark and Esther Clark Terry; and brother, William C. Clark.

There will be a memorial reception on Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 3 p.m. at Laurel Lake Retirement Community in the Community Room in Hudson. Graveside services will be held in West Brattleboro, VT at a later date. Arrangements by JOHNSON-ROMITO FUNERAL HOME, HUDSON, OH (330) 650-4181.

Memorial contributions may be made to the First Congregational Church of Hudson, 47 Aurora Street, Hudson, OH 44236 or the Laurel Lake Foundation, 200 Laurel Lake Dr., Hudson, OH 44236, or to a charity of one's choice. www.johnson-romito.com