Obituary of Larry Don Clarke

Larry Don Clarke, age 71, of Fleetwood, passed away peacefully surrounded by family Wednesday morning, September 11, 2019 at Caldwell Hospice & Palliative Care Center in Lenoir after a 13 month battle with ALS. 

Born in Shreveport, Louisiana on December 7, 1947 to the late T.L. and Ruth Hazel Bowman Clarke, he served in the United States Marine Corps including active duty in the Vietnam War from 1966 to 1969. He co-founded Zedek Corporation in 1984, specializing in Environmental consulting, and worked there until retiring in 2019. 

Larry’s life was dedicated to God. Playing his guitar and singing praise song to Him was one of his greatest joys. Larry always had a warm smile and handshake for everyone that he greeted. He never met a person that he didn’t call ‘friend’ after a brief conversation and he could tell a story in such a way that he would take you on a journey that had you eager to share your own stories with him. His passion for helping others was unmatched, with various mission work and disaster relief efforts both locally and internationally. Larry was also a perpetual student, using his experiences, connections and retirement to challenge himself to learn new skills, such as furniture building and beekeeping. 

Larry is survived by his wife of 50 years, Toni Clarke; two daughters, Wendy Battle of Mt. Holly, North Carolina and Holly Patz (Brian) of Topton, North Carolina; a son, Jonathan Clarke (Jacquie) of Chicago, Illinois; a sister, Elizabeth Strozier (Ted) of Bossier City, Louisiana; two grandchildren, Emily Battle and Erin Battle; several nieces and nephews also survived. 

In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by three brothers AC Clarke, Tommy Clarke, and Ronnie Clarke and two sisters Wanda Roan and Mary Ruth Lewis.

A memorial service will be held on Sunday October 20, 2019 at 2:00 pm at Alliance Bible Fellowship in Boone, North Carolina.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to any of the following:

Alliance Bible Fellowship Missions Fund

1035 NC Highway 105 Bypass 

Boone, NC 28607

Samaritan’s Purse

PO Box 3000

Boone, NC  28607

Samaritanspurse.org

ALS Association

asla.org/donate

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