I return to St. Louis yesterday from a trip to Galveston, TX, and found a phone message from Jerry Clark, old friend, NCRS member and owner of Jerry's Corvette Restoration in Spring Hill, FL, asking why I had not been to visit him to test drive the "King Ray", the modernized '67 car Jerry had built that was covered extensively by Corvette Enthusiast magazine. He had called Sunday afternoon. I tried to return the call, but got no answer at Jerry's house or his cell phone. Several hours later I received a call from Jerry Luck telling me that Jerry was found unconscious in his garage by an employee early Monday morning.
Jerry was rushed to the local emergency room where test revealed he had suffered a massive heart attack, had two more en route to the hospital, was in a coma and would never, according to the attending doctors, regain consciousness. Jerry had a living will that stated he was to be removed from life support after 72 hours. And, per his wishes, he was removed from life support this afternoon, and passed away at 5:39EST.
Those of you who never had the opportunity to meet "Clark Boy" as he was affectionately nicknamed, you missed one of the great characters ever connected to the Corvette hobby. Several note worthy bio pionts: Jerry was the longest surviving dual organ transplant recipient in medical history , Jerry had a kidney/liver transplant nineteen years ago; a marine structural engineer that worked for three years in Ribad, Saudia Arabia, on the team that modernized the harbor to handle super tankers for petroleum export... Legally blind for many years, he was known to have taken 600HP Corvettes out for a quick blast through the gears. All he needed was bright sunlight and someone stupid enough, like me, to ride shotgun and tell him that the coast was clear or when he needed to move a little more to the middle of the road. Jerry knew more jokes than Jack Benny.
More important than any other accolade, Jerry was a good guy. Always ready with a quick joke and always ready to lend a hand to any Corvette guy or gal who needed help. Most of his evenings were filled with returning e-mails to Corvette people around the world who reached out to Jerry for information or tips for their restoration projects.
Jerry was a close friend of Dale Pearman, another longtime NCRS member no longer with us. I suspect they are sitting down tonight with a good martini debating the correct factory finish on the upper A-frames of solid axle Corvettes, as they did so many times before. Jerry was also my good friend and one of the good guys; he will be missed. Godspeed Clark Boy.
David Grayson
St. Louis
Jerry was rushed to the local emergency room where test revealed he had suffered a massive heart attack, had two more en route to the hospital, was in a coma and would never, according to the attending doctors, regain consciousness. Jerry had a living will that stated he was to be removed from life support after 72 hours. And, per his wishes, he was removed from life support this afternoon, and passed away at 5:39EST.
Those of you who never had the opportunity to meet "Clark Boy" as he was affectionately nicknamed, you missed one of the great characters ever connected to the Corvette hobby. Several note worthy bio pionts: Jerry was the longest surviving dual organ transplant recipient in medical history , Jerry had a kidney/liver transplant nineteen years ago; a marine structural engineer that worked for three years in Ribad, Saudia Arabia, on the team that modernized the harbor to handle super tankers for petroleum export... Legally blind for many years, he was known to have taken 600HP Corvettes out for a quick blast through the gears. All he needed was bright sunlight and someone stupid enough, like me, to ride shotgun and tell him that the coast was clear or when he needed to move a little more to the middle of the road. Jerry knew more jokes than Jack Benny.
More important than any other accolade, Jerry was a good guy. Always ready with a quick joke and always ready to lend a hand to any Corvette guy or gal who needed help. Most of his evenings were filled with returning e-mails to Corvette people around the world who reached out to Jerry for information or tips for their restoration projects.
Jerry was a close friend of Dale Pearman, another longtime NCRS member no longer with us. I suspect they are sitting down tonight with a good martini debating the correct factory finish on the upper A-frames of solid axle Corvettes, as they did so many times before. Jerry was also my good friend and one of the good guys; he will be missed. Godspeed Clark Boy.
David Grayson
St. Louis
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