John Alden Clark

John Alden Clark, age 101 and six days, Professor Emeritus of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, was called home to his Heavenly Father on July 14, 2024, surrounded by his family. Professor Clark received his undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan in 1948. He earned his Master's and Doctor's degrees from MIT in 1949 and 1953 and served on the MIT research and teaching faculty from 1949 to 1957. In 1957 he was appointed to the University of Michigan faculty as Professor of Mechanical Engineering, later serving as Department Chairman for two terms. He retired in 1988 after 32 years on the Michigan faculty. Dr. Clark has devoted his professional life to the fields of Thermodynamics, Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics, Thermal and Nuclear Power, Space Propulsion Systems and Solar Energy. He has published approximately 150 peer reviewed technical publications in these fields. He has been the recipient of several professional honors and awards, appointments, and editorships, which are summarized in Who's Who in America, where he has been listed since 1974. For over 50 years he has been an engineering consultant in the field of Thermal Processes. Professor Clark has been a Senior Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) since 1988. In 1956 he was awarded the Pi Tau Sigma Gold Medal Award by the ASME as the most outstanding Mechanical Engineer graduate within ten years of graduation. Professor Clark was born at the University Hospital in Ann Arbor on July 9, 1923, and was reared in Royal Oak, MI. He was a 1941 graduate of Royal Oak High School and studied at the Lawrence Institute of Technology in Highland Park, MI, prior to service in World War II. On July 8, 1945, he married Marie Mountain in West Des Moines, Iowa, and she passed away after 63 years of marriage on October 2, 2008. They were parents of five children. As avid mariners they sailed their 36-foot sloop for 32 years on Lake Erie and a 36-foot Silverton cruiser for 10 years when health issues prevented using a sailboat. For fifty years they also enjoyed spending a month each summer with family vacationing on Woman Lake in northern Minnesota. During WWII Professor Clark served as a B-17 copilot with the 100th Bomb Group, Eighth Air Force, completing 32 missions over Germany. His World War II memoir, 'An Eighth Air Force Combat Diary', was published in 2001. After the war he flew as a pilot with the 107th Bomb Squadron, Michigan Air National Guard, 1946-1948. He has been a Senior Life Member of the Yankee Air Museum since 2002, and a Life Member of the Eighth Air Force Historical Society and the 100th Bomb Group Foundation. His wife, Marie Mountain Clark, was also an experienced Air Force pilot who served in WWII as a member of the Women's Air Force Service PIlots (WASP). She published her own war memoir, 'Dear Mother and Daddy: World War II Letters Home from a WASP' in 2005. She was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame in August 2015. Professor Clark was inducted into the Michigan Aviation Hall of Fame in May 2016. Professor Clark has been awarded many military decorations for his service in World War II including the Air Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, the European Theater Ribbon with 3 Battle Stars, the Presidential Unit Citation with one Oak Leaf Cluster, the French Croix de Guerre with one Palm Leaf and the French Legion of Honor of rank Chevalier (Knight), among others. The military uniforms of both Professor Clark and Marie are on permanent display at the Yankee Air Museum (currently called Michigan Flight Museum) in Bellville, MI. In May 2016 Professor Clark delivered the principal address for the Memorial Day Celebration in the Michigan Senate Chambers in Lansing, Michigan. John moved to Friendship Village in Bloomington, MN to be closer to family in 2017, where he lived until his death. Survivors include his son and daughter, David W. Clark (Connie), of Eden Prairie, MN, and Eloise-Marie Clark Loeffler, MD (Rodney), of Eden Prairie, MN, granddaughter Susan Marie Clark Sweeter of Finlayson, MN, Charles John Clark (Jean), and great granddaughter, Claudia Marie, of Redmond, WA. Dr. Clark was predeceased by twin sons Alan and Merrill (1946), Peter (1988), brothers Charles (1991), Robert (2006), sisters Alice (2014) and Doris (2021). The family also wishes to acknowledge with gratitude the sustained and committed friendship of Vi Kokmeyer during John's final years in Ann Arbor. Private burial services will be conducted later this week at the family plot at Resthaven Cemetery, West Des Moines, Iowa. Memorial contributions may be made in John's name to the 100th Bomb Group Foundation online at 100thBG.com or mail a check made out to the 100th Bomb Group Foundation ℅ Laura Barrett, 405 Reel Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15229.

Tributes

John Alden Clark

July 9, 1923 - July 14, 2024

Tributes

John Alden Clark

July 9, 1923 - July 14, 2024

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