Clark Hetherington

July 25, 1921 - February 13, 2012 NORMAN Our father has had an amazing life. Last year, he wrote down what he wanted to be included in the newspaper at the time of his passing. We are honoring his wishes, and the following are his words:"I was born in Norman, Oklahoma on July 25, 1921. The Lord has asked me to join him on February 13, 2012 (we had to add this!). I had the most wonderful life! My parents were the very best. My mother, Helen Rowena Hetherington, taught the ladies equitation classes at OU. She started teaching me polo at age 5. She told me polo is a passport to the world so later I became captain of the OU polo team. After W.W.II, she also said you must learn to fly airplanes to fully live your life. Thanks to Benny Shields and Gordon Willard for helping me obtain a Commercial and Instrument pilot's license. I enjoyed flying eight different planes over the years. My father, William Leslie Hetherington, was Vice-President of City National Bank in Norman. He said, if you have many true friends, you have had a great life, and I have been fortunate to be blessed with many wonderful friends. As a child, my father paid Wiley Post one dollar to fly my brother and I around Norman. Later I played polo against Will Rogers in Claremore, Oklahoma. What wonderful, interesting and talented people they were. Professor Cortez A.M. Ewing was a dear friend and taught me a lot about life. His wife, Ina Annete Ewing wanted me to write and learn art. I had no artistic talent, but learned to enjoy art and the beauty of nature. I did write a book and enjoyed writing poems. I sincerely thank Professor Fields, my business management professor at OU. He gave me the confidence and knowledge to succeed and enjoy life.The war stopped all polo, but I enjoyed playing OU Junior Varsity football under my old Norman High School coach, Frank Crider. I was a proud member of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity and in later years, my two sons followed my journey as SAEs. My thanks for my ROTC training at OU. I enjoyed my military experience in W.W.II., including artillery, tank destroyers, and my assignment to the 11th Airborne Division. My sincere thanks to General Bob Johnson for what he taught me and for his friendship. He made me a Battalion Commander at the age of 24. I also want to thank the best paratroop sergeant, Sgt. Leroy Tullius, also from Norman. He was a wonderful person and a great soldier. I will forever be proud of leading my airborne troops to liberate over a thousand Chinese from a prisoner of war camp. We were able to get almost all of them back to China safely.I loved Oklahoma football. I was fortunate enough to be able to fly Bud Wilkinson, Gomer Jones, Chuck Fairbanks, Bill Jennings, Eddie Crowder, Jay O'Neil, Bob Ward, Ken Rawlinson, and Jim McKenzie on many recruiting trips. It was an honor and a privilege to provide that service, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent with them and my association with our great University of Oklahoma.I was in the real estate and insurance business and have no idea how many homes and restaurants our company built in Oklahoma, Florida and other states. I do take pride in the fact they were quality built, thanks to the talent of my sub-contractors and a particular carpenter foreman (I couldn't drive a nail), Henry McClure. He was the best. I also had the honor of serving as President of the Kiwanis Club in Norman and had a great belief in the importance of the Kiwanis Club and other service clubs as they contribute to the needs of our community.My lucky day was July 18th, 1942, when I married Marian Unger, a Tri Delt at OU. I was fortunate to be able to spend 63 glorious years with the love of my life. She won two beauty contests while at OU, including ROTC Honorary Colonel. Her senior year she was voted the best OU Home Economics student. We had two sons, Bill and Steve. I can't properly describe our family happiness. The family together learned to ice skate, ski, surf, bowl and enjoy horses and people. Marian and I are so proud of them. They helped make our lives perfect. Bill and his wife, Susie, have three children, Shea, Trep, and Kellie. Shea is married to Michael Barakatt and she has one son, Hunter. Trep has a daughter, Melanie, and a son, Will. Steve and his wife, Nancy, also have three children, Ryce, Leigh, and Drew. Leigh has a daughter, Kaya.Since Marian and I were making frequent weekend trips to Florida so I could train and play polo, we decided to move to Florida and build a new house. We were the 16th member to join the Palm Beach Polo & Country Club. Thanks to Jerry Barton, Chris Cole, and Steve Braley, all of Landmark, I became the V.P. of Polo and Equestrian Operations there. Palm Beach Polo and Country Club was the #1 polo and equestrian club in the world for many years. During our time there, we met and enjoyed many wonderful people from around the world. My sincerest thanks to all our Palm Beach Polo friends who made our life there so rewarding. Prince Charles came to Palm Beach Polo & Country Club twice to play, and his wife, Diana, came with him once. Marian and I became good friends with Sylvester (Sly) Stallone, Tommy Lee Jones and his wife, Dawn. We enjoyed meeting and spending time with other loyal polo friends such as Bill Divan, Doug Shehan, the Dutchess of York, Stephanie Powers and Zsa Zsa Gabor. Polo greats Andy, Billy, Peter and Adolphus Busch were great people and good friends.Polo did not have professional umpires, which hurt the sport badly. I worked twenty-five years to make professional umpires a reality, and I am very proud of the title Father of Professional Polo Umpires. I am also very proud of being inducted into the Polo Hall of Fame in 2004. Marian should have gotten this award.At the conclusion of my life, it is a source of satisfaction to be able to write that if I had the opportunity again, my life would not be changed."Clark Hetherington was preceded in death by his mother and father; his brother, Charles; and his wife, Marian. His services will be held at St. John's Episcopal Church in Norman, Oklahoma, 2 p.m. Tuesday, February 21, 2012. "Absolutely No flowers please." Instead of flowers, contributions in his memory may be sent to St. John's Episcopal Church, 235 W. Duffy, Norman, Oklahoma 73069; or the OU Foundation.Arrangements for Clark and his family were placed in the care of the Vice Family at Havenbrook Funeral Home of Norman. Online condolences may be shared at www.havenbrookfuneralhome.com www.havenbrookfuneralhome.com