Merl Clark

Merl E. Clark of Indianola passed away at 11:45 am Friday January 16, 2009 at Illiana Healthcare System in Danville. He was born on July 9, 1922 on a farm in Rose Hill, Illinois the son of John William and Clara Rena Margaret (Bialeschki) Clark. He married Frances Juanita Smith on October 4, 1946 in Pulaski, Virginia. Frances survives and will miss his daily visits in the nursing home where she resides. They would have celebrated their 63rd anniversary this fall. His two children, Daniel (Kay) Clark in Lawrenceburg, Kentucky and Debra (Don) Mills in Indianola, Illinois will miss him. In addition, his grandchildren have many wonderful memories of their Pappaw. His grandchildren include: Jason (Trinket) Clark; Dusten (Jennifer) Clark; Francie (Nick) Stokes; Danica (Jim) Hartle; Colby Clark, and Morgan Clark. He loved his grandchildren and told them many stories which were continued to the great-grandchildren. Mr. Clark had nine great-grandchildren that he loved dearly: Owen Colton & Cassidy; Kyle & Madisyn; and Alex, Bailey & Cydney. He is also survived by three nephews (John, Merl, & Jackie) and three nieces (Suzy, Sandy, & Sharron). He was preceded in death by: his parents; two sisters, Pauline (Carl) Hixon and Berdina (Jack) Martin; a brother-in-law, Carl Hixon; and a nephew Michael Martin. Mr. Clark had a 20-year career in the US Navy and was a WWII Veteran where he received13 battle star citations and 5 personal citations from the Navy. Six of those twenty years were served on the USS Boise CL47. The USS Boise was part of the Pacific fleet and during his tenure with the ship, Mr. Clark participated in The Battle of Cape Esperance (sunk 4 ships), the Battle of Guadalcanel, The Lone Tokoyo Raid; and the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Mr. Clark was aboard the US Boise during the Lingayen Gulf Landing (Philippines) with General McArthur aboard. During his Navy career, Mr. Clark was the commanding officer of approximately eight (8) different LCU, a recruiter, deep sea diver, and an instructor for boot camp. He received six (6) letters of commendation for his service (one for citing the enemy during WWII as a gunner on the Boise and another for attaching a coaxial cable on the enemys submarine). He was also awarded Outstanding Chief of an LCU during his tenure. Overseas ports of call included: Sicily; Gilbrator; New Guinea; Portugal; Panama; most major Pacific Isles; Sidney, Australia; Japan; New Zealand; Phillipines; West Indies; Bombay, India; Columbo, Ceylon; Brunei Bay, Boreno; Athens, Greece; Korea; Naples, Italy; Algiers, Algeria; Plymouth, England; and Caines, France to name a few. He participated in two fleet campaigns and was in Torino the day that Sicily surrendered and took 700 commantos as prisoners. When he was not on an ocean campaign, he spent most of his Navy career in Navy bases located in Virginia and California. After his retirement from the Navy, Mr. Clark and his wife Frances moved to Virginia where they established a neighborhood store in Dublin, Virginia. Mr. Clark attended New River Vocational Technical School while working at Inland Motors in Radford, Virginia. He became an electronics instructor at the vocational school which eventually evolved to New River Community College. He also attended Virginia Polytechnic Institute and worked for DeVry Institute. Later, Mr. Clark and his cousin Theo went into the hearing aid business. Merl & his wife Frances established Clarks Hearing Aid Service in Danville, Illinois where it remained an established business for over 20-years. Merl also owned and operated Clarks Insulation Service for several years. Mr. Clark was a prolific reader, an avid learner, a risk-taker, an adventurer, a horse lover and loved to work in his garage and workshop. He was loved by his family and was honored by having a nephew, a cousin and a brother-in-law named after him. His life was long and full, and he will be missed. A celebration of life Funeral service for Merl will be 10:00 AM Monday January 19, 2009 at Sunsets Houghton-Leasure Funeral Home. Burial will be in Hoult Cemetery in Chrisman. Visitation for family and friends will be 4-6 PM Sunday January 18, 2009 at the funeral home.