Dr. Clark D. Weidaw

1944 - 2023

News story
By Mark Zaborney
Blade staff writer

Dr. Clark D. Weidaw, who had an engineering degree when he pursued studies at the then-new Medical College of Ohio and became an ophthalmologist, died July 30 in his Maumee home. He was 79.

He had bladder cancer, his daughter Dana Arnold said.

"He was an absolute study in equanimity," Dr. Lurley Archambeau, an MCO classmate, said. "He maintained his levelness through everything and anything. And he created a sense of joy in everything he did, whether it was work or relationships."

Dr. Weidaw retired about a decade ago from the Maumee Eye Clinic, which he founded in 1978. He kept his medical license current, with his most recent renewal taking effect July 3, according to a state online database.

He continued to attend annual ophthalmology conventions.

"It was still a community for him. He had a lot of friends he still knew," Mrs. Arnold said.

Dr. Weidaw was a member of MCO's first graduating class in 1972. He'd left engineering behind, because "he wanted to work with people," Mrs. Arnold said.

He'd enjoyed the ophthalmology rotation at MCO. And after committing to the specialty, he liked the balance of seeing patients at his practice during office hours and performing surgery.

Dr. Weidaw adapted to advanced techniques in corrective eye surgery, such as radial keratotomy and Lasik.

"He loved learning and was an incredible surgeon," she said. "There's a discipline that comes with a medical practice, a rigor around what they do."

He took attending conferences seriously to discover how to improve his practice.

"He didn't go into business to be a manager of people, but it turns out he was a pretty awesome manager of people," Mrs. Arnold said. "Everyone who worked for him felt respected. If you were good and did your job, he gave back."

For Maumee Eye Clinic's 25th anniversary, he took staff members and their spouses on a cruise from Florida to Mexico and back, his daughter said.

He'd founded the clinic after serving as a Navy ophthalmologist in Corpus Christi, Texas.

He was proud to have been an MCO pioneer and remained friends with other members of that first graduating class who remained in the area.

"He still had his graduating class picture in his office," Mrs. Arnold said. "He was an entrepreneur. He didn't mind being on the beginning side of something, taking risks."

He was born July 4, 1944, in Boston to Virginia and Kenneth Montgomery Weidaw II. The family relocated as his father's sales career required. He attended high school in Jamestown, N.Y., but the family moved several months into his senior year. He completed high school in Grand Rapids, Mich., graduating in 1962.

Uncertain about attending college, he saw advertising for a program of the General Motors Institute that allowed students to alternate six weeks of classes with six weeks of work. He attended GMI in Dayton and received a bachelor's degree in engineering.

"He knew he wanted a good job," Mrs. Arnold said. "He excelled in math and science."

He remained physically active as long as he could.

"One year ago, he stopped rollerblading," Mrs. Arnold said. "He was rollerblading 12 miles a day. He was Superman. He was incredibly active with working out - tennis, pickleball when pickleball became a thing. He wanted to do something every day."

He played at Shadow Valley Tennis and Fitness Club and at a club in the Austin area, where he and his wife spent half the year.

Until the discomfort of his illness, "he had a smile from ear to ear all the time," Mrs. Arnold said. "He was a fun-loving guy and easy to be around and always up for an adventure. He and my mom were always trying new restaurants or going to outdoor concerts in the summer. If he liked the music, he was up and dancing with my mom."

Surviving are his wife, the former Grace Perez, whom he married April 6, 1974; daughters Lauri Fite, Leanne Rayfield, Dana Arnold, and Dr. Blake Weidaw; brother Kenneth Montgomery Weidaw III; sister, Janice Winters, and nine grandchildren.

A memorial visitation will begin at 3 p.m. Thursday at Coyle Funeral Home, with a Scripture service at 7 p.m. A Mass will begin at 11 a.m. Friday at St. Joan of Arc Church, with visitation after 10 a.m.

The family suggests tributes to the Tunnels to Towers Foundation.

Blade staff writer Mike Sigov contributed to this story.