Al Clark and I became friends long before Tascosa, as we had the same teacher for private violin lessons. Al fought with a lot of demons in his life. He was not a talkative person, rarely smiled, and wasn't even very warm to most of his friends. It wasn't until about 1977, when I came home for a short break between graduate schools, that he told me he had fought a battle with cancer all the time he was in high school and had to take medicine every day. The medicine made him feel sick most of the time, and the knowledge that he had cancer weighed very heavily on him. He tried to live a normal life, and as far as I can tell, he never told anyone about his illness. When he shared this with me, he said he was cured and life had gotten very good; he married a girl named Susan Allen from Woodward, OK whom he had met at WTSU and she was really nice, and he had found his life's work in econometrics (mathematical theory of economics) and had gone back to college to pursue it. He also told me with some pride that he had mended fences with his father. A couple of years later he called me one night, no special reason, just felt like talking, and we talked for over 4 hours about this and that and nothing. Three weeks later my mother called me and read me his obituary. His cancer had come back. He left his wife but no children. I can't lay my hands on his obituary, but I think his death was in l980. I hope God has granted him the peace he never seemed able to find in this life. from Clarence Annett
Thanks to Clarence for sharing this with us. We never knew! I just remember All as a quiet, smart, amiable guy. Happy high school years should not be taken for granted!
Clarence Annett
Al Clark and I became friends long before Tascosa, as we had the same teacher for private violin lessons. Al fought with a lot of demons in his life. He was not a talkative person, rarely smiled, and wasn't even very warm to most of his friends. It wasn't until about 1977, when I came home for a short break between graduate schools, that he told me he had fought a battle with cancer all the time he was in high school and had to take medicine every day. The medicine made him feel sick most of the time, and the knowledge that he had cancer weighed very heavily on him. He tried to live a normal life, and as far as I can tell, he never told anyone about his illness. When he shared this with me, he said he was cured and life had gotten very good; he married a girl named Susan Allen from Woodward, OK whom he had met at WTSU and she was really nice, and he had found his life's work in econometrics (mathematical theory of economics) and had gone back to college to pursue it. He also told me with some pride that he had mended fences with his father. A couple of years later he called me one night, no special reason, just felt like talking, and we talked for over 4 hours about this and that and nothing. Three weeks later my mother called me and read me his obituary. His cancer had come back. He left his wife but no children. I can't lay my hands on his obituary, but I think his death was in l980. I hope God has granted him the peace he never seemed able to find in this life. from Clarence Annett
Terry Gholston (Rogstad)
Thanks to Clarence for sharing this with us. We never knew! I just remember All as a quiet, smart, amiable guy. Happy high school years should not be taken for granted!