CHAPTER 23 - DICKY
From Richard's memoirs, recovered from his original WordPerfect files
Our oldest son, Richard Lionel Clarke, was born on the Stanford University Campus on the 5th of April 1939 in the Palo Alto Hospital. It has since been renamed the Hoover Pavilion (Hospital). Dicky had fiery red hair about an inch long all over his head, and weighed in at 8 pounds and 2 ounces. DeVonne's physician was Dr. Liston, who was the best in town.
Dicky is a highly intelligent person. Even as a child, an educator noticed his abilities and ran an I.Q. Test on him. Although he wouldn't tell DeVonne or me what the results of the test were he did indicate that it was very high. When I was in the Service my I.Q. tested at 128, which I would say is pretty average. My roommate, Al Horn, had an I.Q. of 160. As I have said I don't know the results of Dicky's I.Q. but I am certain it is well above mine.
Dicky has a very inquiring mind and because of his ability to grasp the crux of most things readily, he always liked to skim the cream off the top and leave the rest, going on to other things of greater interest and challenge to him. This even occurred in his school work, much to the dislike of his teachers.
As a small boy he learned to cook, knit, square dance, solve puzzles, etc., long before his friends even considered such things. He skipped the third grade but, because he would be smaller than his classmates, his teacher first talked with DeVonne and asked how tall Dicky's father was. When she found out I was over six feet tall she saw no problem. Although he was slow reaching his full growth he was good at all sports.
He could, and still can, charm the birds out of the trees. He is a good speaker, has a great personality, and charisma such that he can get along with anyone and everyone, and of all ages from little kids to old adults. Everyone likes him.
One day, when Dicky was in high school, I came home from work and found him in his bedroom reading a “Classic Comic Book.” I found that it was the “Last of the Mohicans” by James Fenimore Cooper and that he had to write a book report on it for his school work. I nearly hit the ceiling and told him that it was no way to read good literature; that I would get him a copy from the library, just as Cooper had written it, and that he was to read it for his book report. The book in its original form is of considerable length and I think it stunned Dicky when he saw it. On the other hand, maybe he had seen it and decided the Classic version was the best for him.
Because of this I put together a list of 150 books or more that I selected as good reading for him and put him on a reading assignment for the rest of his time in high school. He had to read a book every week and it had to be chosen from my list. When Reggie got to high school I put him on the same reading assignment except he had two weeks to read each book. Kandy also got the same treatment but I don't think I was as strict with her.
Overall, I think the required reading that I gave to both Dicky and Reggie did some good. Dicky has become a scholar on the Scriptures and is probably as well versed in them as any of his contemporaries. Reggie, having decided English Literature for his life work, has probably read more books than most people and perhaps my reading course started him in that direction.
Even as a little child Dicky sometimes put me in my place by his observations. Once I had left him home in charge of Reggie and given him a list of verbal instructions, I came home to find he had not carried them all out. When I jumped on him for it (which I was prone to do) he replied: “Daddy, you told me an awful lot of things to do and it is hard for a little boy to remember all of them.”
Dicky (though he is a grown man of fifty now, I still prefer to call him Dicky) was always a good boy. He got into the usual kind of troubles that young boys are apt to but he was obedient and courteous, as were all our children.
He went to Lincoln School in Colton, the same one I attended at his age. He even had one of the same teachers I had - Miss Nevitt. I learned one thing from it. The kids may move on but the same old jokes remain at the school and are passed down to each succeeding class.
In 1949 we moved from Colton to Panorama City, California and our children all attended Chase Street School that was only a couple of blocks from our house. Dicky had his fifth and sixth grades at Chase and then went to Robert Fulton Junior High School for the seventh, eighth and ninth grades. From there he went to Van Nuys High School and graduated in the Spring of 1957. At Van Nuys High School at the same time were Natalie Wood and Robert Redford. In the Fall of 1957 Dicky enrolled at Brigham Young University but he, like his Father before him, did not make the transition from high school to college very well and came home after the second semester. He then went to Valley College in Van Nuys for a year while waiting for his mission call.
Dicky attended the Boys Scouts of America National Jamboree held at the Irvine Ranch, Orange County, California in 1953. His Grandfather Clarke paid his entry fee and I believe he also paid for Eddie, Bob's son.
When Dicky was twelve years old he received his Patriarchal Blessing at the hands of Patriarch Lafayette Orme. His blessing, in part, states:
“. . . You have been blessed in having been brought into the Church in your youth and been taught the principles of the Gospel. You have been given a testimony, and you feel and know in your heart that it is true. The Lord desires that you bear that testimony in public as well as in private. . . Therefore, be not afraid to stand up before anyone and tell them that you know that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is true. Your testimony shall be strengthened thereby, and you shall be able to explain to your associates and companions the Gospel in such a way as to lead them into the Church. . . .
“You shall be called to the nations of the earth to proclaim the Gospel. It may be that you will be called to another land where you will have to learn a new language. If so, be not afraid, for the Lord can give unto you that language as quick as it is advisable for you to have it . . . a few days . . . a few weeks . . . or a year, as the case may be. But you can learn to understand it and speak it fluently. If you do this, it will be a blessing to you . . . to speak the Gospel in more than one language. . . .
“When you receive the Higher Priesthood, you will be entitled to lay hands upon the sick and they will recover if you have sufficient faith, as well as those you administer to have faith. Unite your faith with theirs, and exercise your Priesthood, and they shall be healed.
“Many other things shall come unto you, but, while these great blessing are being multiplied in your behalf there shall also be troubles, trials and tribulations. We live in a troubled world, and you shall be spared so you will be able to see many of these things, and you shall be able to see and acknowledge the hand of the Lord in your behalf. Your life will be preserved under distressing circumstances, and you will feel thankful and realize and know that He is preserving your life for a purpose.
“You shall be a teacher of righteousness as long as you shall live . . .”
Dicky excelled in all his Church activities as he went through high school. He received all the Aaronic Priesthood Awards that were given each year. He took three years of Seminary, which was an early morning, before school, scripture study hour five days a week. Our Stake had a “Perfect Quarter” program when Dicky was a Deacon. President Lloyd Howard of the Stake Presidency instigated it. It required a perfect attendance at all Church meetings and observing all the other Church Standards for three months. Those who completed it each received a silver “Perfect Quarter” medallion. Dicky made it with flying colors.
He advanced in the Aaronic Priesthood with each advancement at the appropriate age, becoming a Deacon at 12, a Teacher at 14, and a Priest at 16. At the age of 19, on 1 June 1958, I conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood on him and ordained him an Elder. As his Father, and a Melchizedek Priesthood holder, I ordained him to each of these offices in the Priesthood.
At our Stake Conference on 24 May 1959 Dicky was interviewed for a mission call by Bishop Thorpe B. Isaacson, 1st Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of the Church. On 28 May 1959 he received his call to the Argentine Mission, dated 26 May 1959, from the President of the Church, David O. McKay. He was set apart for his mission by Elder Sterling W. Sill, Assistant to the Twelve, on 23 June 1959. I stood in with Elder Sill for the setting apart and DeVonne was with us. Dicky left Salt Lake City for New York on 5 July 1959 and left New York City the following day for Uruguay arriving in Montevideo, Uruguay on the 7th. The following day he arrived in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Upon his arrival some new missionaries had problems with Visas and Dick was sent to Santiago, Chile shortly after that. For all practical purposes he completed his entire mission in Chile.
He wanted a good Spanish grammar book and I went to the Spanish Department at UCLA and found what was the best book available. I sent the book to Dicky at his address in Argentina via Air Mail. But, he had already left for Chile so it was sent back to me via boat, rather than forwarding it to Chile. After some time it arrived and I sent it on to Dick in Chile as First Class Mail, as I couldn't see spending all that money again for Air Mail. He finally received it after several months but he still found it invaluable during his mission.
Dicky served in Santiago, Valapraiso, Viña del Mar and Concepción and probably other places in Chile that I do not know of.
At the completion of his mission I, as Ward Bishop, received the following letter from his Mission President:
“Dear Bishop Clarke:
On January 3, 1962, Elder Richard Lionel Clarke, a member of your ward was handed his honorable release after being one of our missionaries and completing a very successful mission.
Elder Clarke arrived in the mission field on July 8, 1959 and labored in the Santiago, Concepción and Valparaiso Districts of the Chilean Mission.
We trust that as soon as possible you will put Elder Clarke to work in the Church. He is a man with tremendous ability, but needs a constant challenge. During the last two months of his mission Elder Clarke opened a branch and in my opinion, showed that he is one of the most gifted individuals I have met. I sincerely trust that the enthusiasm and spirit which he has shown since we arrived in this mission will carry on throughout his life.
We are grateful that you allowed Elder Clarke to come into our mission and we pray that opportunities will be afforded him to use his talents and knowledge of the Gospel in your ward.
Sincerely,
(Signed) A. Delbert Palmer
President Chilean Mission”
On his return home from his mission he came via Lima, Peru and on 4 January 1962 spent 3 hours with Reggie who had arrived at his Mission Headquarters in Lima in mid-November of 1962. If they had not seen each other then there would have been a five year lapse of time before they saw each other. Dicky came on home via Panama, Canal Zone, Guatemala, Mexico City to LAX arriving about 12:30 AM Saturday, 6 January 1962. DeVonne, Kandy and I drove to the airport and met him.
Upon returning home he met and became interested in Judith Holmes Jacobs. Judie's brother, Ray, was a member of the Church but Judie was not. Judie joined the Church on 12 October 1962 and they were anxious to get married. As the Church requires one to be a member for a full year before being permitted to be married in the temple, the Stake President, Don C. Brown, advised them to wait a year to be married in the temple rather than to have a civil marriage immediately. They complied with the President's advice and were married in the Los Angeles Temple on 12 October 1963, exactly one year from the date of Judie's baptism. Their reception followed in the Van Nuys Stake Center. Afterward they brought all the gifts they had received over to our house and Judie spent the rest of the evening opening them.
Judie is a very talented artist, not only in painting and drawing, but also in the ability to create characters, scenes, etc., from her imagination. She has worked for Hana Barbera for several years and is held on a retainer by them. She does most of her work within her home but meets with the heads of the company weekly to coordinate her work and develop plans for continuing scripts, films, etc.
In 1967 Dicky played basketball on the Church team of the Van Nuys First Ward. They won the stake and regional championship, and then went to Salt Lake City to compete in the All Church Playoffs. Those guys in Utah think they have the best of everything in the Church and didn't look for Dicky's team to be much of a problem. After an exciting week they walked off with the ALL CHURCH CHAMPIONSHIP! DeVonne and I stayed home and took care of Corinne and Sissy while they were in Salt Lake. Judie came home pregnant with Adam.
Dicky and Judie have seven lovely children. They were born as follows:
Corinne Roxanne - born 3 Aug 1964 in Van Nuys, California
Lorraine DeVonne - born 31 Oct 1965 in Panorama City, Calif.
Adam Richmond - born 21 Nov 1967 in Van Nuys, Calif.
Russell Lionel - born 31 Jul 1969 in Panorama City, Calif.
Kourt Neilen - born 14 Sep 1972 in Van Nuys, Calif.
Erinn Holmes - born 21 Nov 1973 in Granada Hills, Calif.
Samantha Mae - born 5 Mar 1975 in Thousand Oaks, Calif.
As his Father, I have had the privilege of baptizing and confirming him a member of the Church. As I have already stated, I ordained him a Deacon, Teacher, Priest and Elder at the appropriate times in his life. He was ordained a Seventy on 3 February 1974 by Delbert L. Stapley of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. At that time only a General Authority could ordain a man a Seventy. On 24 January 1982 I ordained him a High Priest.
He has always been very active in Church and filled many positions, including teaching Seminary, Stake Missionary, Stake Mission President, Sunday School Teacher, Young Men's President, Bishop's Counselor, etc.
Judie wrote the following letter to DeVonne and me on 5 January 1973:
“Dear Pops & DeVonne
It's very early in the morning and I wanted to take hold of this quiet time to express to you what is in my heart.
First of all I want to thank you for all the lovely things that I received at Christmas Eve. It was a good feeling to be with you and Grammie that evening and to start it off with attending Sacrament in your Ward.
I am not elegant in being able to express my feelings as Dick is. He has such a wonderful and blessed manner in which he can relay those things that burn within him. You'll have to sort of read in between my feeble attempts of expressing my love and appreciation for you and for the things you have accomplished in your lives.
Thank you for your son. I am truly blessed. What did you do? How can I have my sons grow spiritually and intellectually such as the way in which you trained your son?
I must confess that because of my own weaknesses I did not understand nor appreciate the greatness nor the potential of your son when I married him. We have both grown spiritually in our few years of marriage but I follow a good 10 paces behind him. I want you to know that I love him very much and will take good care of him, for without him I don't think I would have progressed as I did.
Isn't it a joy and a blessing to be in the Church of our Heavenly Father and have the truth to guide us back to Him? I look about me and marvel at how blessed we are. Why was I singled out to receive such a son as yours or the 5 beautiful children that have been put in my charge?
Since Dick's mission we have lived closer to the Lord than at any other time. It's a bond I never want to end and I pray the Lord will continually pour out this beautiful spirit.
I am beginning to realize Dick's potential. I know that the Lord must be greatly aware of Dick's ability to bring people into the Church. How I wish this mission would never end.
I must tell you that he is an excellent father. Hopefully, we will be able to accomplish those things that you did in bringing up your family. I know it will not be easy for I can see the world of Satan pulling at our children at times and oh, how we must pray and stand strong together for I'm sure that my little spirits will see things and be tempted like Dick and I never even thought of when we were growing up.
Thank you for being the example that you are. And DeVonne I love your Mother very much. You see I never had a grandmother to visit and be close to. My mother's mother died when Mom was 17 and I hope I will have the opportunity to visit her beyond the veil. I will be hopefully getting her endowment and baptism accomplished at the Temple.
Again I find it difficult to express to you how happy I am but that's not the word that tells what's really in my heart. It's sooo good to be alive, so good to be able to have a chance to go back to my Father in Heaven and He has truly blessed me in the manner of your wonderful son. We will make it together and with our family as long as we hold to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
I love you both.
Love,
Judie”
On 22 October 1987 Judie had an automobile accident on the Ventura Freeway. She was going East, and just after the transition road from the Fillmore freeway enters the Ventura freeway she wanted to get over to the right to exit at Hampshire Road. It is quite a difficult maneuver as the cars from the Fillmore on-ramp are trying to get over to the left to get into the through traffic lanes of the Ventura Freeway. It had been raining hard earlier and as she changed lanes she hit a swale in the road that was flooded and lost control of the VW Van she was driving. Fortunately there were no other cars involved but unfortunately Judie was apparently thrown through the windshield and out onto the pavement. The Van was totalled.
No one knows how long she lay in the road but fortunately a young man came along and stopped and took care of her until the Ambulance and Paramedics arrived. The young man turned out to be a member of the Church and he administered to Judie while they waited for assistance. She was taken to Westlake Community Hospital where, after the doctors provided emergency care, she was placed in the Intensive Care Unit for six days. She was black and blue from head to toe with a severe cut on the back of her head, a huge gash in the front of her right leg at the hip joint; some damage to her left leg as well. The doctors even opened up her abdomen to check for internal bleeding but found she was okay in that respect.
When she was released from the hospital on 31 October (Sissy's birthday) she came to our house so DeVonne could care for her and Judie wouldn't have to concern herself with her household chores and family duties. She stayed with us until 5 December when Dicky took her home. While she was with us I took her to her doctor on the sixth of November and he put her in the Los Robles Hospital for surgery. The tissue around the large gash in her right leg was going bad and needed to be removed. She stayed in the hospital for seven days. After that I took her nearly every day to the Los Robles Hospital for whirlpool therapy treatment. First it was twice a day but eventually only once a day.
On 11 December she went into the hospital for a skin graft. The doctor took skin from her left leg and grafted it to her right leg.
It was a traumatic experience for Judie. At this writing it has been over a year and a half and Judie still has a few minor problems because of the accident. Although the skin graft has been successful, her left leg still troubles her. It tires easily if she is on her feet too long and her ankle swells. It was a good experience for DeVonne and me, as we got to take care of our Daughter-In-Law on a daily basis for five weeks and we enjoyed the privilege and opportunity.
Zion continues to grow. Adam just returned home from a two year mission to Ireland. Rusty is now serving a two year mission in Spain. Corinne and Lorraine (Sissy) have each blessed us with three great grandchildren as follows:
Corinne married Kenneth Wayne Miller and they have the following:
Kamrine Nicole Miller - born: 28 May 1983
Kenneth Cheyne Miller - born: 24 Jul 1984
Kathryn Lorraine Miller - born: 11 Feb 1989
Sissy married Jeffrey Gorden Huffman and they have the following:
Jessica Lauren Huffman - born: 20 Jul 1986
Buckley Gorden Huffman - born: 26 Nov 1987
Nicole DeVonne Huffman - born: 20 Jun 1989
After returning home from his mission, from 1962 to 1964 Dicky worked at various simultaneous part-time jobs: Los Angeles School District, Erlen Products and Tutoring while going to college full time. From 1964 to 1965 he worked for the US Post Office as a Substitute Clerk/Carrier while going to college night classes.
In 1965 he began working for Lockheed Aircraft in Burbank as a Data Processor, working full time Swing & Graveyard Shifts and going full time to college during the day. From 1966 to 1967 he worked for Pacific Fidelity Life Insurance as a Life & Health Agent full time.
From 1967 to 1971 he was back at Lockheed as a Data Processor doing Scientific and Engineering Programming. From 1971 to 1973 he worked for Hughes Aircraft in Canoga Park as a Senior Data Processing Operator (Business/Accounting).
From 1973 to 1974 he worked for Unifax Systems in Los Angeles as a Data Processing Manager. From 1974 to 1975 he worked for American Data Services in Thousand Oaks as a Data Processing Manager. From 1975 to 1978 he worked for Talley Corporation in Newbury Park, California as a Data Processing Manager.
From 1978 to 1981 he worked for Meridian Systems (formerly California Data Management) in Calabasas, California. From 1981 to 1988 he was self employed as a Computer Programmer and Consultant in Thousand Oaks.
In 1988 he began working for A. L. Williams Company in Sales/Recruiting Life & Health Insurance/Investments in Thousand Oaks.
Over the years Dicky has had wide experience in Computer Programming and is well adept at it. He is my only salvation when it comes to keeping my home computer on the line, functioning properly, and showing me how to do many things with it that I am too much of a novice to figure out for myself.
I am extremely proud of Dicky. He is a son that any father would be very proud of. I don't get to see him as much as I would like but when we are together I always have a warm feeling toward him. I seldom, if ever, tell him that I love him but I want him to know, and those who may read this, that I do love him very much.