George Lavalle Clarke Ph.D.

Dr. George LaValle Clarke passed away on Wednesday, December 16, 2015, in a local hospital. Memorial services for Dr. Clarke are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Saturday, December 19, 2015 at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal Church, 919 S. John Redditt Drive with the Reverend Max Reynolds officiating. A reception will follow at Pinecrest Retirement Community Auditorium, 1302 Tom Temple.

A longtime citizen of Lufkin, Dr. Clarke was born in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, on February 25, 1910, to George Roland and Minnie Helen Swanson Clarke and grew up with 3 brothers and a sister on the Iron Range in northern Minnesota. He started school in Kelly Lake in a 2-room school for grades 1-6, skipping the 3rd grade, and continued his education in Hibbing, Minnesota, graduating with degrees from Hibbing High School and Junior College. He loved chemistry and physics.

Dr. Clarke earned his degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota in 1932. After working for 3 years in Longview, Washington, Dr. Clarke was awarded a full scholarship to the new Institute of Paper Chemistry at Lawrence College in Appleton, Wisconsin (now University of Georgia Tech,) where he earned his Master’s Degree in 1937 and his Ph.D. in Paper Chemistry in 1939. Then he started his lifelong career of building and operating pulp and paper mills in the United States and Canada. In 1957, Dr. Clarke moved his family to Lufkin to become Vice President of Operations for Southland Paper Mill where he led the early effort to computerize operations. He continued his career with Mead Corporation until his retirement, all the while keeping his home in Lufkin.

Dr. Clarke was an avid outdoorsman who fly fished and hunted all of his life. He loved music, dancing, and playing bridge—especially on the computer with his kids and grandson. He was a lifetime Rotarian, a Mason, a Boy Scout leader and Episcopal Church member. In his 105 years, he has gone from communicating with Morse code and the telegraph to using a computer. He was a lifelong learner.

Dr. Clarke is survived by his beloved wife of 33 years, Daphene Schulze Clarke; five children: George Roland Clarke and his wife Susan; Ellen Clarke Temple; Joseph Alden Clarke; Susan Clarke Glade and her husband Bernard “Buzz”; Tom Schulze, M.D. and his wife Linda; 12 grandchildren; and 23 great grandchildren.

He was preceded in death by his first wife of 42 years, Lillian Ahlstrom Clarke, and by his son-in-law, Arthur “Buddy” Temple III.

The family especially thanks the devoted Pinecrest sitters, the doctors and nurses of ICU at CHI St. Luke’s Memorial Hospital, and Hospice in the Pines for their loving care.

The family requests memorials to the Lillian A. and George L. Clarke Library at St. Cyprian’s Episcopal School, 1115 S. John Redditt Drive, Lufkin, Texas 75904; Hospice in the Pines, 1504 West Frank Avenue, Lufkin, TX 75904; or the charity of your choice.

Condolences may be offered at www.gipsonfuneralhome.com

Services have been placed in the trust of Gipson Funeral Home.