Jerry N. Clark ’63

Jerry died April 9, 2016, at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He had suffered from complications of a head injury after a fall in January at his home in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

He came to Princeton from Muncie, Ind., and majored in politics. He managed the student laundromat, joined Whig-Clio, and was secretary of Elm, rooming there as a senior with Chuck Junkunc.

He was a Washington, D.C. attorney, a health-benefits consultant, and an advocate for LGBT rights and for D.C. statehood. After earning a University of Chicago law degree and a doctoral degree at the University of Minnesota, Jerry went to Washington in 1973 to work for the Department of Justice and then spent most of his career as executive director of the United Mine Workers health and retirement funds. Recently he did healthcare consulting on benefits and cost containment.

Co-workers and friends praised Jerry’s lifetime of leadership in many community groups, as well as his kindness, compassion, and advocacy of equality for all people. “He was so committed to making things better and never needed the spotlight,” said one colleague.

Jerry is survived by sisters Alma Marie Osborn, Betty Hunt, and Melinda Rider; and brother Parnell David Clark.