THIS IS AN attempt to acknowledge the impact of the life of a man, Claude Clark, who significantly helped shape the town of Forks through his entrepreneurial spirit, volunteerism and generosity.
Claude, who died Aug. 7, was born May 11, 1921.
When it came time for him to start first grade, he moved to live with his aunt and uncle, John and Inez Miller, in Beaver.
He attended Beaver school until the family moved to Forks.
The Millers moved across the street from the Forks School.
Clark could hear the school bell ring and would roll out of bed just in time to get to class.
But he was no slacker in school.
He participated in football and basketball, was stage manager for plays, was on the newspaper staff and played trumpet in the band. He graduated in 1940.
Clark had already enlisted in the Navy when World War II broke out. When the call came for all eligible men to report, he told his Aunt Inez: “Auntie, I will see you when I get back,” grabbed his shaving kit and was off to serve his country.
Clark saw action in Atka Island and Attu Island in the Aleutians and also served in the Philippines and Okinawa.
After World War II, he returned to Forks and worked in the timber industry.
During the Korean War, he re-enlisted and served his country again.
Back home to Forks in the late 1950s, he borrowed $5 and a car from his cousin, Richard Miller, and drove to Port Angeles to get financing to buy the Forks Cafe.
Clark and his first wife, June, began to transform the cafe into Clark’s Vagabond Restaurant. The dining room and Pebble Room were added.
My very own first fine dining experience was at the Vagabond around 1964. My parents took my sister and me out to dinner. We had chicken in a basket and Shirley Temples.
I remember the walls had driftwood and nets, and something that looked like egg cartons decorated the ceiling. Clark felt the driftwood would encourage tourists to visit the local beaches.
While growing his business, Clark also found time to serve on the Forks Fourth of July committee. It was Clark who suggested in 1964 that adding a logging show to the Fourth festivities would be fitting.
He also spent time as Forks Chamber of Commerce president.
His ideas about attracting tourists were ahead of their time.
From the late 1960s to the mid-1970s, he also coached Forks Little League Football.
His team, the Giants, went undefeated in 1969.
Although they lost the championship to Norm Bagby’s Packers, hundreds of young boys got the opportunity to learn the game of football.
Through the 1970s, Clark and his second wife, Sharon, offered a venue for most of the town’s events at the Top of the Rock.
The upstairs at the restaurant hosted meetings, politicians, receptions, reunions,and parties of all types — and lots of live entertainment.
Clark was always willing to help anyone down on their luck with a job, a meal or money and never expected to get paid back — and he’d do it all over again for the next person.
For 40-plus years, the Vagabond was a cornerstone in the Forks economy, providing hundreds of jobs.
Recently, when Tim and Annette Root opened The Lodge and Twilight Lounge at the former location of the Vagabond, Clark cut the ribbon at the grand opening ceremony and was honored with a plaque dedicating the new restaurant to his memory.
In his 1940 yearbook, next to Clark’s picture, the sentiment reads:
“There is just one fellow who actually is in a position to improve you. You look at him every time you shave.”
You cannot deny that Forks was improved by knowing Claude Clark.
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Funeral services for Claude Clark will be held at the Forks Congregational Church, 280 S. Spartan Ave., at 1 p.m. Friday.
A gathering at the Elks Lodge will follow a graveside service after the funeral.
Christi Baron is a longtime West End resident who is the office and property manager for Lunsford & Associates real estate and lives with her husband, Howard, in Forks.
Phone her at 360-374-3141 or 360-374-2244 with items for this column, or e-mail her at hbaron@centurytel.net.
West End Neighbor appears every other Tuesday.
