William Wells Clark, Jr.

William (“Bill”) Wells Clark, Jr, husband of Barbara L. Clark, passed away on February 26, 2023. Bill, the son of Ridie Guppey Clark and William Wells Clark, was born and grew up in Western Springs, Illinois. He was a kind and generous man, with a great sense of humor.

Bill graduated from Iowa State College in 1951 with a Bachelor of Science Degree of Engineering. After graduation, Bill was called to active duty in the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers where he served in Korea as Battalion Operations Officer until September 1953. While in Korea, he received the Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, and the Presidential Unit Citation (ROK).

On December 19, 1953, Bill married the love of his life, Barbara L. Messer, whom he met at college. He then attended American University, graduating in 1955 with a Masters’ Degree in Business.

Bill began his career at AT&T in July, 1955. He was transferred to Transmission Engineering where he was responsible for transmission engineering support for long haul, high capacity analog cable systems in the Central Region of the United States. Later he was transferred to Long Lines Headquarters where he was responsible for transmission engineering of long haul analog cable systems. During his later years with AT&T, Bill provided transmission system engineering assistance to Bell Telephone Laboratories in the initial development of multimode optical fiber and single mode high capacity optical fiber transmission systems.

While living in New Jersey, Bill volunteered to be the initial President of the Resource Recovery Association of New Providence for the Borough of New Providence, New Jersey. He remained an officer of the association until his retirement and move to Lake Monticello, Virginia. While living in Virginia, he assumed Coordinator of the Charlottesville chapter of Us Too Prostate Cancer Support Group. His ten years of service provided valuable knowledge, not only for the people in the group but also later for himself. Bill was a member of the Masonic Widow’s Sons Lodge and frequent contributor to the Widow’s Aid Fund. He also established an endowment for Engineering students at Iowa State University.

In 2009, Bill moved with his wife Barbara to Carolina Village in Hendersonville, North Carolina. We wish to express our thanks for the Caring Support he received there. He was pre-deceased by his parents and his sister, Lillis Clark Brackett. He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Barbara L. Clark; his brother-in-law Don Messer; and his nieces and nephews, Mary Coffin (husband Peter), William Brackett (wife Marie), Robert Brackett (wife Deborah), Margaret Hafer (husband Lance), Lyn Stolworthy (husband Jess), Keri Millward (husband Cody), and Brett Messer (wife Patsy).

Bill will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. James Episcopal Church, 766 N Main St, Hendersonville, NC, 28792, or the charity of your choice.

Arrangements are in the care of Shuler Funeral Home of Hendersonville, NC.

Posted online on March 02, 2023

Published in Hendersonville Times-News