Gerald Marvin Clark (Jerry)

Jerry was eight when his family moved to Wichita, Kansas to enable his father to work as a welder at Boeing, building airplanes during WW2.  Jerry enjoyed a childhood we all remember and wish we could have lived.  Out the door after breakfast and not expected back until dinner.  He enjoyed the outdoors spending his days hunting and fishing.  As with most boys, he occasionally liked to play pranks. He enjoyed telling his children the story of the dummy in the tree at the local cemetery on Halloween. Dropping the dummy down in front of cars and jerking it back up into the tree before the startled driver could turn around.  Jerry ran away from home when he was 16 along with a close friend.  They both traveled across the country to Alaska.  He worked on a fishing boat and a ship surveying the coast of Alaska. Later in life he seriously considered moving to Alaska to enjoy the unspoiled outdoors.  When Jerry returned home from his adventures in Alaska, he enlisted and served with the U.S. Marines.  He was deployed overseas to Korea but just before his ship was to dock, the truce was called, and he spent his service time in Japan.  He then returned to Kansas.  His father set him up on a blind date.  He met the love of his life on that date and married Phyllis (Shirk) Clark on April 7, 1957.  He would spend the rest of his life with Phyllis at his side.  They settled in Kansas.  Jerry studied to become a hair stylist and opened his own business in Wichita, Kansas.  He also worked at a local dairy. Jerry and Phyllis had a son and two daughters. Jerry and Phyllis wanted to move to a place with more hunting and fishing and less people and they spent several summers exploring the western United States.  They chose to move to Boise, Idaho in 1968.  Jerry worked as a hair stylist, then for Triangle Dairy. In 1969 they moved to Meridian, Idaho.  He became self employed as a certified carpet cleaner and the owner of Carpet Brite, later named Carpet Craft. He spent the rest of his career in the carpet cleaning business becoming a certified inspector prior to his retirement and eventually turning the company over to his son. His grandson now works for Carpet Craft also so the business he started has spanned three generations.

Jerry loved his family very much.  He enjoyed hunting all over Idaho and displayed many elk racks in his home.  He loved the outdoors and went on camping, hunting, and fishing trips with his children and grandchildren.  Jerry also enjoyed gardening and for many years he had a flourishing strawberry patch as he loved them.  After his retirement, he single-handedly built himself a barn that housed a wood working shop.  He took a community class at Meridian High School and built a beautiful grandfather clock.  His three children all coveted the clock so he told them they would receive a clock as a wedding present.  It was a few years after all had been married but he followed thru with his promise and in 2006 they all received their clocks.  He was commissioned to build a clock from an oak tree cut down from the state capitol property and the clock resides in the state capitol building.  Jerry’s last wood working project was a Maloof rocking chair proudly displayed in his home.  In his later years he enjoyed sleeping in his Lazy Boy chair and the company of his dog Peppie, wife, children, and grandchildren.  He was much loved and will be greatly missed.

In addition to his parents, Jerry was preceded in death by his brother, Bob Clark, and his sisters, Pat (Clark) Fox and Betty (Clark) Vanderpool.  Surviving in addition to his wife, Phyllis (Shirk) Clark, are his sister, Sharon (Clark) Kilts, his son Craig (and wife Jan) Clark, his daughter Dena Clark, and his daughter Gwen (and husband Steve) Dudley, as well as his four grandchildren, Jonathan Clark, Cassie Clark, Gabe Dudley and Josh Dudley.

A private family graveside service will be held on Tuesday, January 11, 2022. Condolences can be left on the Alden Waggoner website at https://www.aldenwaggoner.com , under Obituaries.  In lieu of flowers, those who wish to remember Jerry in a special way can make a donation to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation by sending a check to RMEF Memorials, 5705 Grant Creek, Missoula, MT  59808 (put Jerry Clark on the For line), or via their website at https://www.rmef.org , select Donate, Ways to Give and Learn More under Memorials, Contribution for Jerry Clark, Craig Clark under Family Contact (use your own address) .