Rick Reeves, former RCHS basketball coach requested that Dale Clarks obituary be posted. This is the article written by David Barber for what was then the Herald-News. Herald – News June 13, 1990 By David L. Barber If in the past four decades in Reed City you kicked a football or dribbled a basketball or pushed your chest out in blue-ribbon pride as you snapped the finish line tape, chances are the coach who pushed you to be all you can be was a polite, peaceful man who by his own rules, stood off to the side unnoticed while you stood in glory. Dale Clark would stand in quiet awe of a young athlete’s outstanding performance. He appreciated when potential was fulfilled. He seemed forever mesmerized by the youthful innocence of high school athletics. Since World War II he was both fan and friend, both coach and counselor, to generations of Reed City High School athletes. He was a Hall of Fame coach with a Hall of Fame heart. Dale Clark died Thursday following a lengthy illness. He was 74 years old. His funeral will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday at the United Methodist Church in Reed City. “Dale was thought of so highly by the student body, by the athletes, by the coaching and teaching staffs, and by the community as a whole,” said Dean Shank, principal at the high school. “To his athletes, he was a father. At all times, even in the fiercest competition, he kept his poise, he remained a gentleman. He won with dignity and he lost with dignity. He taught his athletes to do the same.” Mr. Clark was born January 7, 1916 in East Jordan, the son of Mason and Margaret (Batterbee) Clark. He attended school in East Jordan, graduating from high school there in 1934. He went on to attend Western Michigan University, graduating in 1939. He later received his master’s degree from Michigan State University. Mr. Clark taught school in Bellaire for two years, but in 1941 he moved to Reed City where in nearly three decades of coaching, he became an inspirational institution. Through his passive, gentlemanlike demeanor, he inspired others. In sporting arenas he didn’t demand excellence of others, he simply inspired them to demand it of themselves. Mr. Clark coached track at Reed City High School for 28 years, from 1941 to 1969. He also coached the Coyotes’ football team from 1941 to 1960, the cross-country teams from 1960 to 1974 and the basketball team from 1941 to 1960. Except for two years that he served in the U.S. Army – 1944 to 1946 – he stayed in the Reed City school system until his retirement in 1975. Because of his decades of dedication to high school athletics he was elected into the Michigan Coaches Hall of Fame in 1980. One of his football teams in the early 1950s was voted state champions by the Detroit Free Press, while one of his track teams in the same era earned state championship laurels. During the 1950s and 1960s his track teams were recognized as being nearly unbeatable. One of the more gifted, hardworking athletes Clark ever coached was Herb Lindsay, who earned All-State honors as a high school long-distance runner and All-American honors as a collegiate runner. Lindsay earned a berth on the U.S. Track Team for the 1980 Olympics, but was not permitted to compete because of the U.S. boycott of the Soviet games. In his prime, Lindsay was recognized as the premier long-distance road racer in the world. Lindsay and Clark became especially close friends after Lindsay’s rise to international running fame and Lindsay always credited Clark with being one of the inspirational forces behind his accomplishments. “More than anything, Mr. Clark taught me how to ‘focus’ on those things I wanted for my life,” Lindsay said. “I wanted to be a long-distance runner and he taught me how to ‘focus’ on that. He did not yell. He did not preach. While other coaches would be lined up at the starting line with their runners getting ready to take off, Mr. Clark would be off somewhere else.” “And sometime, somewhere during the course of the race, you’d see him. He’d be off standing off by himself, quiet and watching. He would smile and nod his head if he thought you were doing your best. He’d look down or maybe roll his eyes if he thought you weren’t. Either way, in his own quiet, subtle little way, he got his message across.” Ever the school activist, Clark served on the Oliver’s School Board in Lake County from 1948 to 1952. He also served on the Detroit Free Press Coaches Board and was a member of the Michigan High School Athletic Association for many years. On March 31, 1939, he married Hilda Jackson in East Jordan. They celebrated their golden wedding anniversary last year. Mr. Clark was a member of the Reed City United Methodist Church, the Reed City Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #2964 and the Lou B. Winsor Lodge #363 F. & A.M. He is survived by his wife, Hilda; one son Ronald and his wife Joan of Newberry; one daughter Betty (Mrs. Allen) Pontz of Reed City; two brothers, Carroll and his wife Lela of St. Johns, and Mason and his wife Marah Leigh of Niles; seven grandchildren and 12 great grandchildren. He was preceded in death by a granddaughter, Sandra Snider, a grandson, Steven Pontz and by one great-granddaughter. The Rev. Allen McCreedy officiated at Sunday’s funeral service for Mr. Clark at the United Methodist Church. Committal services were held Monday, June 11 at Sunset Hill Cemetery in East Jordan. A Masonic Memorial Service was held Saturday at the McDowell Funeral Home. Memorial contributions may be made to the Reed City High School Athletic Memorial Fund or the American Cancer Society. “This spark plug of a man who was so devoted to life, to teaching, to athletics, influenced us in many ways,” the Rev. McCreedy said at the funeral service. “His was a positive story to tell, it was a story of deep concern … deep concern for his students and athletes. He was an advocate of the students. Dale ran the race of life, straight and forward.”
Posted on: Sat, 27 Dec 2014 00:23:34 +0000
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