John Laurence Clark was born to Michael Thomas Clark and Dana Gaboury Clark at Columbia Hospital for Women in Washington, D.C. on January 16, 1987. In his short life he lived in Washington, DC, Northern Virginia, suburban Maryland, and Williamsburg, Virginia (1987-2004); Mumbai, India (2004-5); then Fairfax, Virginia (2005-6), Austin, Texas (2006-7), Greenville, North Carolina (2007-8), Silver Spring, Maryland (2008-10), New York city (2011), and Arlington, Virginia (2012-2015). In October 2015, he moved with his then girlfriend Erin Gwin to Huntington Beach, California. 0n 26 January 2017 the couple celebrated the birth of their daughter Aiva. The couple separated in May 2017 and Jack continued to live in the Huntington Beach area until October 2018, when he moved to San Diego.
John Laurence Clark passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on the early morning of Sunday, November 11, 2018. He is survived by his mother and father, former girlfriend Erin and daughter Aiva, brother Thomas, sister Victoria and husband Trent, grandmothers Rita Clark and Eleanore Gaboury, aunts Sofia Clark and Margaret Clark, uncle John Clark and aunt Antonella Ansani, uncles Scott Gaboury and Todd Gaboury, aunt Maria Gaboury, aunt Rita (Jill) Clark and uncle Richard Gollub, uncle Patrick Clark and aunt Pastora Sandino, and many cousins and friends in Washington, New York, Chicago, California, Nicaragua and India.
Named for his two grandfathers, both U.S. military officers and decorated Vietnam combat veterans, whom he admired deeply, Jack took the nickname of his paternal grandfather, John James Clark of Ojai, California. From an early age, Jack left a lasting impression on teachers and coaches. A gifted and precocious athlete of unusual speed and strength, Jack was the terror of little league and high school pitchers and quarterbacks. In school he showed signs of a quick and discerning mind, and teachers often remarked on his leadership qualities. But the routines of schooling annoyed him, and formal schooling became a disciplinary exercise of which he and the Fairfax County Virginia school system both eventually tired.
After earning his GED with considerable support from his mother in Austin, Texas, Jack went on to a variety of occupations: surveyor, sandwich chef, juice bar operator, vape confectioner, forklift operator and shipping and warehouse manager.
Throughout his life, Jack struggled with a complex medical condition from which he suffered nearly continuous mental anguish and physical pain. Despite his condition, Jack showed immense compassion for people and animals, and was an ardent champion of anyone he perceived as bullied or vulnerable. Once when thieves robbed a woman at an ATM in Mumbai and absconded in an auto-rickshaw, Jack chased down the three-wheeler and turned it over, so frightening the criminals that they dropped the money and ran away. Between 2006 and 2018 he rescued nearly a dozen Pitbull terriers.
Jack kept his parents, family and friends by turns amazed, afraid, and amused – often in stitches – with his endless larger-than-life but nonetheless true stories. Jack loved deeply and was deeply loved in return. He wished most for his daughter and mother to find the happiness on earth that so often eluded him.
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