Victim was outgoing, loved to share music
BY JERRY WOFFORD, AMANDA BLAND & TIM STANLEY World Staff Writers
Sunday, April 15, 2012
12/28/12 at 8:56 AM
In the years before his death, musician Bobby Clark had a hobby of playing for the patrons of a Tulsa soup kitchen.
It was his way of sharing music and conversation with people, Donnie Clark said of his 54-year-old brother.
The family moved to Tulsa in 1964, and Bobby Clark and his four siblings attended Booker T. Washington High School.
He picked up guitar and bass as an adolescent and later toured with a gospel band.
"He was more talkative than anybody," Donnie Clark said. "He was a really loving person."
Donnie Clark found his brother lying in the street near the home they lived in together just before 2 a.m. April 6. Bobby Clark was pronounced dead at a hospital after he was taken from the area of 600 W. 63rd Street North.
Donnie Clark said he was waiting to meet Bobby Clark and some friends so they could head to a casino together early Friday.
When he didn't show up, Donnie Clark headed back to their house near 63rd Street North and Denver Avenue to find out what was taking his brother so long. That's when he saw the body in the street.
"At first, I didn't think it was him," Donnie Clark said. "I ran to the house. ... I said, "Somebody is lying in the street."
At Bobby Clark's funeral service, held Friday at Crown Hill Chapel, Clark's brothers, Donnie Clark and Bernard Clark, performed a gospel song, "Angel," that they had co-written with Bobby.
"This is a song we started but we never had a chance to finish it," said Donnie, who sang while Bernard played guitar.
Donnie Clark said he grew up in a large family with five kids - four boys and a girl - and that growing up in Tulsa was fun for the siblings.
It was in those early years when Bobby Clark and his brothers started exploring their musical talents.
Donnie Clark said his brother was diagnosed with a chronic disease just after high school. It left him disabled, but it made the brothers closer. Their bond made what happened Friday that much more shocking.
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Jerry Wofford 918-581-8310
jerry.wofford@tulsaworld.com
Amanda Bland 918-581-8413
amanda.bland@tulsaworld.com
Tim Stanley 918-581-8385
tim.stanley@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
Clark
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