September 7, 1939 – January 26, 2023
Clark Benjamin Luchau was born in Ada Minnesota on Sept. 07,1939 to William & Bertha Luchau. He had 2 brothers, Wesley and John and 1 sister, Gail.
By 10 years of age Clark had moved with his family from MN to Salem, OR for the second time. He attended the Salem School for the Blind for a few years because of his Amblyopia. He had 9 paper routes at one time. He graduated in 1957 from Salem High School (later it became North Salem High). Clark was on the football team and was a state champion wrestler during his high school years but because of a devastating motorcycle accident just before graduation, he gave up his goal to be a coach. He attended Linfield College then moved to Seattle, WA and went to work for Boeing aircraft.
While in Seattle, Clark married and had 2 boys, Craig and Michael. In 1967 Clark divorced and he and his 2 boys moved back to Salem. He went to work for Moore Business Forms as a pressman. In 1974 he married Marlene Sims who had 3 preschool children, Jeffrey, Rebecca and William. They all lived in Salem until 2 of the boys, Michael and Jeffrey, moved to the Seattle area, married and had 2 children each.
Clark ran one marathon but because of knee trouble he started to ride his bicycle to work on a regular basis. At one time he rode bike from the OR/WA border to the CA/OR border. In 1993 Moore Business Forms closed their Salem Plant and Clark and Marlene relocated to the plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. This move allowed them to live close to their home towns where they re-established family relationships and made new lifelong friends. Clark retired from Moore in 1998 after 33 years and the family moved back to Salem. They soon joined the First Free Methodist church.
In 2000, before they got started with commitments, Clark rode his bicycle from the Pacific Ocean in Pacific City, OR to the Atlantic Ocean in Bar Harbor, Maine, 4277 miles. Marlene accompanied him with their camper van and kept his riding records, meals and kept up communications with the family and friends. He joined the Salem Bicycle Club and was an active member on the Wednesday rides until his first stroke in March,2016.
Clark is survived by his wife, Marlene; son Michael Luchau and wife Lisa of Des Moines, WA; son Jeffrey Luchau and wife Janet of Lynnwood, WA; daughter Rebecca Sell of Salem, OR and son William Luchau of Salem, OR; brother, Wesley Luchau and wife Ennetta of Salem, OR; sister Gail of Las Vegas, NV and sister-in-law, Christine Wolf of Nicholasville, KY. Brother John Luchau passed away August 2021 and Son Craig Luchau passed away in Oct. 2018. Clark also had 8 grandchildren and 4 great grandchildren.
Clark & Marlene have made many trips across the country and one to Europe. They have been to Barrow, AK, the northern most point in the US, and to South Beach in Hawaii, the southernmost point of the US, however, no trip will be as great as the one he took on Jan. 26, 2023 to the gates of Heaven to be with the Lord.
We will all miss him until we meet him in Paradise.
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