Honorable Lawrence F. Clark Jr. (1943-2023)

P​assionate for justice, respectful of history and dedicated to the vitality and preservation of the institutions of our society, the Honorable Judge Lawrence Francis Clark Jr., retired, passed quietly into everlasting peace and happiness, joining the love of his life, Mary Beth Clark, at "home" in heaven on Monday, May 15, 2023, after a protracted illness.
"Larry" was the beloved husband of Dr. Mary Beth Clark, R.N., Ed.D., his wife of 47 years prior to her death in February of 2022. He resided and passed away in the home they built together in Hershey. Larry established and nurtured enduring relationships with family, neighbors (especially children), friends and legal, judicial and law enforcement colleagues in Hershey and well beyond, while mentoring budding lawyers, freshly minted law enforcement officers and consulting with jurists throughout the state and beyond.
Judge Clark began his life in Wilkes-Barre on March 17, 1943 as the first child of the late Lawrence F. Sr., D.D.S. and Sara Casey Clark, of Wilkes-Barre.
He is survived by his brother, Michael R. Clark, M.D. and his wife, Joanne, East Lansing, Mich.; his brother, John Casey Clark and his wife, Stephanie, Reisterstown, Md.; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, John and Grace Fisher, Dallas; his brother-in-law and sister-in-law, Joseph and Susan Fisher, Charlotte, N.C.; and his sister-in-law and brother-in-law, Jean Fisher Nelson and Eric Nelson, Morgan Hill, Calif.; along with a legion of nieces, nephews, great-nieces and great-nephews.
Larry graduated from the Pennsylvania State Police Academy in 1964 and became a sworn member of the Pennsylvania State Police. During his time as a Pennsylvania State Trooper, he also graduated from the Northwestern University Traffic Institute in 1970. During his service as a Pennsylvania State Trooper, he matriculated to the Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law (Indianapolis) where he was recognized with the Outstanding Senior Service Award and earned his Juris Doctor and admission to law practice in Pennsylvania in 1974 and the Supreme Court of the U.S. in 1979. He held the distinction of being the first Pennsylvania state trooper to graduate from an accredited law school. Over the course of his legal career, Clark was the chief counsel for the Pennsylvania State Police and the legal officer for the Pennsylvania State Police Academy along with being its primary instructor of constitutional law and criminal law. He also served as an assistant attorney general of Pennsylvania and special consultant to the Pennsylvania State Senate on matters pertaining to municipal police jurisdiction and related issues. He retired from the Pennsylvania State Police in 1985 and started his own private law practice, with an emphasis on the representation of municipal law enforcement officers in matters of collective bargaining and contract application and interpretation.
Deeply rooted in the community, Larry served as a member and later chair of the Derry Twp. Board of Supervisors from 1992 to 1995. He also participated in the Hershey Rotary Club and had special pride in having earned Eagle Scout status.
In 1995, Lawrence F. Clark Jr. was elected to a 10-year term on the Dauphin County Court of Common Pleas and was retained for a second term in 2005. He assumed senior judicial status in January of 2014 and fully retired from the bench in March of 2020. As a state trooper and as a jurist, Judge Clark was recognized by his colleagues and litigants as a commanding presence, larger than life in the eyes of many, in the courtroom and in patrol activities, every attorney who appeared before him knew, with clarity, that he or she was expected to be prepared to the fullest and zealously represent his or her client's interests. His law clerks looked to him as a mentor as well as a father figure.
In his personal life, Larry, along with Mary Beth, shared a love of gardening, particularly their famous tomatoes and peppers that he lavished on all who came to know him and maybe teach his special soil treatment for the most productive crop. He loved spending time at home, reading history, being engaged in the discussion of current events, working in the garden and building ever more powerful computers for himself and often for his friends.
Larry will be missed by so many family, friends, colleagues and mentees but his legacy will be carried on through the countless lives he impacted as a State Trooper, lawyer, jurist, community leader, friend, brother, uncle, cousin and husband.
Services to celebrate and remember the life of the Honorable Lawrence F. Clark Jr. will begin Thursday from Hoover Funeral Home & Crematory, Inc., Route 422 and Lucy Ave., Hershey, where visitation will be held from 5 to 7 p.m. Visitation will again be available at 10 a.m. Friday in St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Hershey, with a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. Interment will be private in St. Mary's Cemetery, Hanover Twp., Wilkes-Barre, where His Honor will be laid to rest. God rest his soul.