Dr.
Thomas H. Clark, age 80, of Colchester, Vt., passed away on June 18,
2024, at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston after a monthlong
struggle to overcome complications from infections after open-heart
surgery. His wife, Anni Kristensen, was by his side every day through
the month and held him in her arms as he took his last breath. He
also was attended by his sister Virginia “Gini” Dutcher and
nephew, Mickey Dutcher. During his long stay, several beloved family
members came to visit.
Tom,
born in Glens Falls, N.Y., on July 16, 1944, was the son of the late
Harold K. and Margaret (de Ste. Guay) Clark, also of Glens Falls. He
was the youngest of four siblings and the only boy. In addition to
his sister Gini, his other siblings were the late Barbara Carter of
South Burlington, Vt., and the late Elizabeth “Liz” Healy of
Glens Falls.
When
he was a Little League player, it was discovered that Tom had a
congenital heart defect, and at age 14, in 1958, he underwent his
first and, at that time, experimental open-heart surgery at Albany
Medical Center in New York.
Tom
graduated from Glens Falls High School in 1962. After a year at
Adirondack Community College, he went on to get his doctor of
optometry degree, graduating as then the youngest person in his
class, at the age of 24, from New England College of Optometry in
Boston. After getting his degree in 1968, he was drafted into the
U.S. Army as a captain. While in the Army, he was stationed at Fort
Sam Houston Hospital in San Antonio, Texas.
After
finishing his Army service, he returned to Burlington, Vt., and
opened his first optometry office, on Pearl Street. His office moved
a couple of times to South Burlington and Burlington, but Tom was at
his optometry office in Blair Park in Williston for more than 25
years. Many of his patients followed him throughout his 54-year-long
career. He enjoyed seeing his patients year after year and continuing
the conversation they had started on day one of meeting them. The
feeling was mutual, and many personal stories and anecdotes and jokes
were shared along with a thorough eye exam.
Not
only was Tom a gifted optometrist, he was also a consummate lifelong
learner. Among the highlights of his career was providing innovative
visual training to race car drivers, including Michael Andretti. He
also worked with minor league players of the Burlington Lake
Monsters, then an affiliate of the Washington Nationals.
He
developed and received patents for two progressive lens-measuring
tools. This required learning how to create devices electronically
and printing them on his 3D printer. In his early ’70s, he decided
to learn how to play violin when one made by his great-great-uncle
was gifted to him. At 78, Tom decided that he would learn how to
repair pocket watches. Throughout his life he was an avid
fly-fisherman and especially loved to take friends fishing for
steelhead trout on the Salmon River in Pulaski, N.Y., or go
fly-fishing for tarpon in Florida with his “boys” from Denmark.
During his first trip to Denmark in 1992, Anni took him to a fishing
store known as the best in Denmark. Tom quickly became friends with
the manager, which led to Tom meeting three other avid fly-fishermen
who traveled to the U.S. several times to go fishing with Tom.
When
he wasn’t fishing, he most likely was building something — bamboo
fly rods, classic wooden canoes with hand-carved paddles to match, a
rowboat for his sister Gini, a secret liquor cabinet for his Danish
mother-in-law’s senior apartment.
Tom
talked to people and made friends everywhere he went. When the
pandemic sent us all home for a couple of months, Tom suggested to
six of his high school buddies from Glens Falls, who lived elsewhere
in New York State, New Hampshire, Virginia and South Carolina, that
they meet via Zoom. They all agreed, and on a Wednesday at 2 p.m. in
late March 2020, they gathered in front of their computers. This
tradition has continued every Wednesday for the four years since.
Tom
had an endless supply of jokes and always was sharing them with
anybody close enough to hear. His sense of humor and fun were what
drew people to him. Everybody who knew him has a funny story to tell
about how he joked with them and made them laugh.
He
was a compassionate and kind person who will be sorely missed by all
the people who loved him. Though his energy diminished over the
years, his enthusiasm for life never did. Even as he lay struggling
in the ICU, he endeared himself to the nurses when he smiled at them
or reached for their hand or rolled his eyes.
Tom
is survived by his wife of more than 30 years, Anni Kristensen;
sister Virginia Dutcher and brother-in-law William Dutcher; and
numerous nieces, nephews, and dear friends near and far. A memorial
service will take place on Saturday June 29, 2 p.m., at Mountain View
Chapel, 68 Pinecrest Dr., Essex Junction, VT. A special thank-you
goes out to Dr. Antonia Kreso, the staff and all the nurses at Blake
8 ICU for their professional, respectful, kind and compassionate
care.
Arrangements
have been entrusted to the care of Ready Funeral & Creation
Service, Mountain View Chapel, 68 Pinecrest Dr., Essex Junction, VT.
To send online condolences to the family, please visit
readyfuneral.com.
This article appears in Jun 19-25, 2024.