John W Clark

Jack was born January 13, 1946, in Girard, Ohio, the first son of Frank Clark and Martha (née Gelston) Clark, and grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, among his siblings—his brother Frank Clark Jr. and sister Rebecca Jean Clark. A 1963 graduate of Youngstown High School, Jack had a long and varied career—his earliest position was a steelworker in a sheet metal factory in Youngstown while attending college at Ohio State. He enlisted in the army and served with army intelligence in the late 1960s, where he was stationed in Turkey.

Jack’s successful business executive career began at Carrols Corporation—one of the largest institutional Burger King franchise operators in the United States—in Syracuse, New York. Jack was proud of his role as VP of marketing and advertising at Carrols. In 1982 he became president/CEO of the Confection Division of Carrols and was responsible for 225 store locations, the manufacturing plant, and distribution warehouses.

Most importantly, it was at Carrols that Jack met the love of his life, his wife of more than 30 years, Erin Stimmell. Jack was ahead of his time as a supporter of Erin’s career growth and relocated many times for her. His role as divisional merchandise manager at General Nutrition Company (GNC) was his last corporate role before embarking on a new series of business ventures.

Throughout his life, Jack was an entrepreneur, operating his own printing company. Later he was a franchisee of several GNC vitamin stores in the greater Philadelphia region. In the culmination of his long career, Jack pursued his lifelong passion for food and opened his own restaurant with his daughter—a gourmet hot dog operation—in Reading, Pennsylvania, aptly named “Woof’s: The Best Dressed Hot Dogs in Town.” To this day, his Coney sauce recipe remains a treasured family secret and is always in demand. Woof’s was also known for its chili, which won the Best Traditional Chili Award in Reading out of more than 55 restauranteurs.

Jack’s proudest accomplishments were, as he put it himself more times than could be counted, his children. In his son Brendan, he imparted far too many things to name: a passion for dressing to the nines, a love of collecting, a fondness for a stiff drink, preferably Benedictine and Brandy (B&B), Absolut (always “on the rocks, no fruit”) and Bloody Marys (a frequent presence at the holidays)—which the two shared on many a night— and a love for fine restaurants, especially in New York, with his old haunts of Sparks and Shun Lee Palace fertile ground for many stories about heady advertising days gone by. Most importantly, Jack imparted to Brendan the importance of working hard to attain success and doing right each and every day. Brendan did not (thankfully) inherit Jack’s fondness for silk painted ties redolent of his Carrols days.

In his daughter Candice, there were many fond memories of childhood, time spent as business partners in the operation of Woof’s, countless hours spent playing backgammon and solitaire, cooking together, and the important lessons of family, exemplified in Candice’s daughter, Emma Claire. Jack especially treasured his time spent as a grandfather to Emma.

Jack had many passions, cooking being the chief and most legendary among them. He proudly compiled his list of recipes, numbering now into the several hundreds, and called the collection Food: By Jack. A gift of a bound copy of Food: By Jack was always a signifier of close friendship and clear indicia of inclusion in the family. Jack’s family well recalls his eagerly distributed annual supplements to the cookbook and were treated to his gastronomical delights at many annual Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter gatherings on the Cape.

But cooking was not his only source of pleasure: Jack was an accomplished coin collector since his youth. He was an avid fan of tennis. He traveled: cruises with Erin in the Caribbean, the Grand Canyon with Brendan and Erin, Paris—twice, London, and Ireland for Candi’s wedding. He ate well at the finest restaurants and partook in his favorite delicacy, when available, the venerable clams Casino (with no breading). He gardened—tomatoes were usually successful . . . carrots less so. He exercised and took an interest in fitness, making many a friend at the gym. He spent many long hours in the sun at Craigville Beach and the CBA. Sweet indulgences also regularly figured into his evening routine: Almond Joys, key lime pie, and anything his wife would bake.

He spent many hours at home on the Cape watching cable: Hill Street Blues, South Park, Seinfeld, and, of course, The Five. He was also a connoisseur of films: As Good as It Gets, the little-known Albert Finney musical version of Scrooge at Christmas time, any Jason Bourne film, though deference was always due to The Bourne Ultimatum, and Indiana Jones. Sundays invariably included a showing of A Few Good Men, sometimes twice in a row. Music, too, was always present: the 10-minute version of Frankie Valli’s “Swearin’ to God” and the trumpet solo at the five-minute mark, Tony Bennett’s “I Left My Heart in San Francisco,” Rod Stewart’s standards album, Bennett’s cover of James Ingram and Patti Austin’s “How Do You Keep the Music Playing,” Johnny Hartman, Michael Feinstein, Lou Rawls, and so many others.

Jack is survived by his wife of 38 years, Erin Stimmell-Clark, of West Barnstable, Massachusetts; his son, Brendan Clark, of Williamsburg, Virginia, and West Barnstable, Massachusetts; his daughter, Candice Clark, of Orefield, Pennsylvania; and his son, David Clark, of Youngstown, Ohio. Jack is also survived by his granddaughter, Emma Claire Brady, and son-in-law, Sam Brady, of Orefield, Pennsylvania; and his father-in-law, William Stimmell, of Hingham, Massachusetts, and the extended Stimmell family, which he viewed as his own. Jack is predeceased by his parents, Frank and Martha Clark of Youngstown, Ohio; his brother, Frank Clark Jr.; and his sister, Rebecca Jean Clark.

In lieu of flowers, the family welcomes contributions to support Tunnel to Towers Foundation, a cause that Jack always admired. A celebration of life is planned on Cape Cod for the weekend of January 13, which would have been his 78th birthday. Details to come from the family.