Glenn E. Clark
| Glenn Earl Clark, Sr. (Businessman and | |
|---|---|
| Born | December 31, 1924 Louisville, Kentucky Resident of Bossier City, Louisiana |
| Died | October 1, 2011 Bossier City, Louisiana Resting place: |
| Political Party | Republican |
| Spouse | Joyce Clark Children: |
| Religion | Southern Baptist |
Glenn Earl Clark, Sr. (December 31, 1924 – October 1, 2011), was a decorated World War II soldier and a figure in the 20th century rebirth of the Republican Party in the U.S. state of Louisiana.
Clark was born to Barney O. and May Clark in Greenwood, a neighborhood of Louisville, Kentucky. He studied at the University of Kentucky and Transylvania University, both in Lexington, Kentucky. After twenty-seven years in the United States Air Force, he retired at the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. During World War II, as part of the then United States Army Air Corps, Clark was stationed in the Pacific Theatre, where he earned various citations, including three Bronze Star medals, the Philippine Liberation Ribbon, the World War II Victory Medal, and the Occupation Medal of Japan. He was an instructor at the Non Commissioned Officers Academy in Fort Lee, Virginia. He developed a social organization for retired Chief Master Sergeants.[1]
After his military service, Clark resided in Bossier City in northwestern Louisiana, where he was involved in the antiques business and operated the former Windsor Clock Shop.[1]
On February 1, 1972, he became the first Republican candidate ever to seek the office of state representative in Bossier Parish, Louisiana. He polled fewer than a third of the ballots and lost to two Democrats, Walter O. Bigby (1927-1980) and Jesse Claude Deen (1922-2015).[2] The Republican gubernatorial candidate that year, David C. Treen, however, won Bossier Parish in the general election with Democrat Edwin Edwards.[2] Though Bossier Parish is now heavily Republican, the first Republican legislator, Robert Earl "Bob" Barton, was not elected until 1995 and served only one term in office after embarking on an unsuccessful race for the state Senate.[3] The current representative is Republican Raymond Crews.
On February 2, 1980, Clark ran unsuccessfully for the seat on the Bossier City Council vacated by newly elected Democratic state Representative Robert R. Adley.[4] In 2008, Adley, then and later a state senator, switched his affiliation to Republican,[5] as had numerous other Bossier City officials over the preceding years.
Clark was a member of the Waller Baptist Church in Bossier City and the Masonic lodge. He died at the age of eighty-six at the Northwest Louisiana War Veterans Home in Bossier City. He was preceded in death by his wife of sixty-two years, Joyce Clark. Survivors included a son, Glenn Clark, Jr., of Winter Haven, Florida; two daughters, Pamela C. Vick and husband Randy of Grand Prairie, Texas, and Carla C. Underwood and husband Lee of Benton in Bossier Parish, five grandchildren; a brother, J. E. Clark of Indianapolis, Indiana, and a sister, LaVonne C. Ross of Strunk, Kentucky.[1]
He is interred at Hill Crest Memorial Cemetery in Haughton, Louisiana.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Glenn E. Clark. The Shreveport Times. Retrieved on October 5, 2011.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Louisiana Secretary of State, General election returns, February 1, 1972
- ↑ Membership in the Louisiana House of Representatives, 1812-2012. legis.state.la.us. Retrieved on October 5, 2011.
- ↑ Shreveport Times, February 3, 1980.
- ↑ Membership in the Louisiana State Senate, 1880-2012. legis.state.la.us. Retrieved on October 5, 2011.
