Houston – Grandpa “Buzz”

I flew into Houston for a 3 day business meeting. Had a nice time living the big business man life…LOL… Now I’m back to reality again. I also got a phone call yesterday that my Grandpa (on my Dad’s side) has passed away. So here is a recap of the week.

We’ll close with some stories of my Grandpa “Buzz”. I ask for your prayers for the family during this time. We’ll first give you a recap from the business week.

I went on the Houston business trip with Tricia, a co-worker from West Texas. She made the trip fun for several reasons. She and I would argue about who was right…and keep score. She made me her driver and pack mule while I was there also….not to mention I did all the work. LOL

We got to meet some people from the Houston offices and see what the offices looked like there. I promise you this…they have it made compared to all of us out there in “the-middle-of-nowhere”. I had forgotten what it was like to be able to break for lunch and actually go to a restraunt for a bite to eat. I had almost forgot what traffic was like too, but Houston helped remind me of that. LOL

We stayed in a very nice hotel in the Greenway Plaza, which also housed our offices in Greenway plaza 3 and 5. It had restraunts, a movie theatre, gym, etc. all right there. Nice setup.

I ended up taking Tricia back to Hertz, where she could take a shuttle back to the airport. I am affraid she would not have made it back to the airport by herself. LOL I had my Step-dad and Grandpa(mom’s side) pick me up there. Idecided I was going to take the oppurtunity of being so close to home….to visist my family for a few days before flying back to Lubbock.

Anyway, enough about the work week.

Arthur L. ”Buzz” Clark, age 87, of Caldwell, Ohio, died Tuesday, February 13, 2007, at SE Ohio Regional Medical Center, Cambridge, Ohio. He was born July 6, 1919, near Middleburg, Noble County, Ohio, son of the late Walter Lee and Bertha Heddleson Clark. Following his graduation from Dexter City High School, Mr. Clark worked as a machinist’s apprentice for the Timken Company in Canton, Ohio. He was a World War II Army Air Corp veteran, having served in Japan for two years and three months. After the war, he returned to the Timken Company and worked as a tool and die maker. Years later, he returned to Noble County and became one of the original employees of the former Cleveland Graphite Bronze Plant. The plant was later named Gould, under which he retired after 30 years of service.

Mr. Clark was a member of the Point Pleasant Lodge #360 F&AM in Pleasant City; the Valley of Cambridge AASR 32nd degree Mason; a member of the American Legion Post #62, Chillicothe; VFW Post #8040, Buffalo; and the Middleburg United Methodist Church. He enjoyed fishing and bowling, and was privileged to have bowled with a championship team at King Pin Lanes in Cambridge. He also enjoyed working in his home machine shop.

In addition to his parents, he is preceded in death by one brother, George Lee Clark.

Surviving are his wife, Elenore M. ”Mickey” Clark, whom he married August 3, 1941; four sons, Lloyd D. (Connie) Clark of McConnellsville, Jack L. (Diane) Clark of Chillicothe, David L. (Shirley) Clark of Michie, Tennessee, and Paul W. (Barbara) Clark of the home; one sister, Louise Barnett of Devola; two brothers, Ralph (Jolene) Clark of Dexter City and Raymond (Sandy) Clark of Senecaville; 7 grandchildren; 7 great-grandchildren; and many nieces, nephews, and cousins.

Friends may call Thursday, February 15, 2007, from 4-8PM at McVay-Perkins Funeral Home, Caldwell, where Masonic services will be held at 7:30PM. The funeral service will be Friday, February 16 at 11AM with Rev. Jack Lamneck officiating. Burial will follow at Halleys Ridge Cemetery, Ava, with military graveside services conducted by the Noble County Veteran Service Organizations.

I will miss him very much. I don’t think I ever saw my Grandpa “Buzz” mad or for that much ….serious. He always wore a grin. I would always tell stories or jokes and finish them with his trademark “What do ya think of that?” LOL I have some good memories of my brother and I spending time out at the farm playing army, going through everything in the barn, picking strawberries, hunting down the evil “measels” (sorry private joke), learning how to make sling shots, and eating breakfast with him and grandma.

The last time I saw him, back in December 2006, he was doing fairly well. I had lunch with them, we shared stories, and I played some fo the songs I had written for them. As I was playing grandpa brought out a nice fiddle, his old guitar and was trying to show them to me as I was playing. I remember one time when I was little he used to play that fiddle on the back porch and a banjo. I’m not sure how good he was, but I remember sitting there listening to him.

He was the kind of man that could make anything. Seriously. He had a saw mill, and metal lay’s (not sure of spelling)….all kinds of tools, tractors, everything in that big barn. He also made homemade beer and wine for years. Which I think is how he got his nick name “Buzz” LOL.

I will miss his laughs, his grin, and his “What do ya think of that?” I will miss the outlook on life that he portrayed to me…Take each day as it comes, and always laugh about it. That outlook may not have been what he wanted to portray, but it is what I gathered and it is what I have lived by for years. I think my friends would agree that I joke and laugh alot. I get that from him.

I love you and will miss you Grandpa.

To the family, I love you and miss you all. I wish I could be there. You will continue to be in my prayers and I will see you all again soon. To my grandma. I love you very much, and pray that you understand he is in a glorious place now sharing his laughter and jokes in a place we’ll all be one day.

To my friends, I ask that you keep my family in your prayers and that God will hold them close and give them the comfort that only He can give in these times.

Love ya Grandpa, “What do ya think of that?”

James (Jamie)