Charles "Joe" Clark

Charles “Joe” Clark, 91, of Lake Placid, Florida, went home to be with his Lord on October 14, 2025, at his residence. He was born March 29, 1934, in Crowville, Louisiana, to James Wallace and Alice Pearl (Stroud) Clark. Charles was a beloved father, grandfather, and husband with a distinguished career in the military and management.

Joe was the fifth of seven children and grew up on a rural farm near Baskin, Louisiana. He graduated from Baskin High School and worked as a farmhand to put himself through Louisiana State University, graduating with a BS in Dairy Cattle Production. He joined the United States Air Force as a Second Lieutenant and worked assignments as a navigator on the KC-97 and KC-135 tankers in Idaho, Texas, and Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He then became a manager for the Air Force, completing assignments in Canada, Pennsylvania, Saigon, Vietnam, and Bentwaters, UK, where he was Director of Logistics for the largest Air Force base in Europe during the Cold War. He earned his MBA during his time in England. He ended his twenty-three-year military career in 1977, as a member of the Inspector General team in California, retiring with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

He worked for another 18 years as a program director for Rockwell/Collins Corporation in Dallas, Texas, installing state-of-the-art communication equipment on Air Force One and the Apache helicopter. He moved to Marshall, Texas with Rockwell in 1987, and retired in 1997. Being extremely industrious, he taught himself to cook for his family, to be an auto mechanic, and remodeled his entire home in Dallas, Texas, enlisting and teaching his children all these skills as he went. After his home remodel in Dallas, he and Ros built a new one from the ground up in Marshall, Texas. He loved spending time with his grandchildren and traveled all over the country to see them.

He married Roslyn Gantt in 1961. He is survived by his children Charles Kevin Clark, Gregory Carl Clark (Ann), and Melinda Kaye Clark (Timothy), his seven grandchildren, Amanda, Jordan, Lance, Amelia, Kate, Saide, and Delaney. He loved all his family and was ceaseless in his efforts to support them.

Joe and Ros moved to Sebring, Florida in 2006, where he faithfully supported Roz through Alzheimer’s disease for the last years of her life. He loved living in Florida and became a deacon at First Baptist Church of Lake Josephine, where he had many responsibilities including singing in the choir. He met and married his beloved wife, Linda Cunniff, in March 2023. They had 2 ½ wonderful years together before hi lost his battle with cancer and heart disease.

He is predeceased by his parents, his wife, Roslyn and siblings Geraldine, Lorraine, Bobby, and Wesley. He is also survived by his siblings, Joyce Haywood, and Sherman Clark; sister-in-law, Jean Clark; special niece, Donna Gantt (Steve); and several nieces, nephews, and cousins.