‘Like a quiet storm.’ Behind-the-scenes Columbus community leader Charles Clark dies
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Charles Clark, a behind-the-scenes community servant leader whose positive impact in Columbus clearly is seen, has died.
Clark died from natural causes Tuesday at a hospice care facility in Sherman Oaks, California, his daughter, Candace Clark Trinchieri, told the Ledger-Enquirer. He was 83.
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease, Clark and his wife, Bunky, moved there from Columbus in 2017-18 to be closer to their daughter.
Clark worked in various leadership positions for more than two decades in Columbus, starting in the early 1990s after retiring as an administrator with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Those roles included Columbus Regional Healthcare System senior vice president, Columbus Regional Medical Foundation vice president, Aflac sales associate, and executive director of Junior Achievement, which educates students about workforce readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy.
When he was hired by Junior Achievement in 2009, he told the L-E, “As long as God keeps me alive, I will work or volunteer until I can’t do it anymore.
“There is nothing more rewarding that I can do in my last years on Earth than work with young people to help make a positive impact on their future,” he said.
Girls Inc. and MercyMed are other community organizations that benefited from Clark’s participation. And even while living with the disease, he volunteered for the Alzheimer’s Association.
“My dad was like a quiet storm,” Trinchieri said. “His impact was not in your face, but its results have lasted for years and generations. My dad always believed that’s why you are put on Earth, to make life better for others.”
Clark also was involved in politics. He was a campaign manager for U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop (D-Albany), who represents part of Columbus in Georgia’s 2nd Congressional District.
As the son-in-law of the late Columbus Mayor Pro Tem A.J. McClung, Clark married into a prominent local family known for its civil rights activism. In 1973, McClung was the first Black politician to become mayor of a major Southern city, when he served in that capacity for 52 days after Mayor J.R. Allen died in a plane crash. A football stadium and YMCA branch in the city are named in honor of McClung.
Clark’s wife, Bunky, ran for Columbus Council and was a community activist. While she worked in Washington, D.C., for President Jimmy Carter’s administration during the 1970s, Clark stayed home in Atlanta to take care of their children.
“He supported my mom 100 percent,” Trinchieri said. “He was a strong believer in uplifting women and girls.”
Then she laughed and added, “He was not a natural house husband, I will say that, but he did it. There was no YouTube back then to learn how to do your daughter’s hair.”
Retired L-E president and publisher John Greenman recalled how Clark described growing up in Crisp County.
“He told me he lived so deep in the country that going to Cordele, the county seat, was for him visiting ‘the big city,’” Greenman wrote in an email to the L-E. “Charles and Bunky lived in Brookstone, an upper-middle class white neighborhood. They thought of that as normal, not groundbreaking.
“Charles spoke through a smile. His high-pitched, sometimes squeaking country voice, belied a deep, educated, intellect. Neither Charles nor Bunky indulged easy accusations of racism. They pushed back on people who advanced such claims. Yet, both lived lives of muscular, thoughtful, anti-racist activism.”
Funeral arrangements aren’t finalized.
“He’s being cremated,” Trinchieri said. “I definitely know my mom has talked about having a celebration of life in Columbus.”
This story was originally published March 8, 2023 at 3:37 PM.
