Robert F. Clarke, Emporia
Robert F. Clarke, professor emeritus and former chairman of the biology department at Emporia State University, died Wednesday, April 2, 2008, at Newman Regional Health. He was 88.
Professor Clarke taught at Roosevelt High School in 1963, then became a faculty member of the biology department at Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia in 1968. He was chairman of the Department of Biology from 1972 to 1979. In 1969 and 1970, he was assistant to the vice president of Academic Affairs, where he helped start sabbatical leave and tenure policies. He retired from Emporia State University in 1985. Earlier, he was a journeyman machinist in the Norfolk, Va., Navy Yard. He and his wife, Elaine, moved to Emporia in 1948 where he was a stationary engineer for the Santa Fe Railroad and a free lance illustrator. During World War II, he was an engineer for the Merchant Marines.
He was born Oct. 18, 1919, at Portsmouth, Va., to Marian Maclin during a brief marriage and was later adopted by his maternal grandparents, Walter and Janie Elizabeth Clarke. He enrolled at KSTC in Emporia in 1952 at the age of 33 after a KSTC biology professor saw Mr. Clarke collecting frogs in a ditch for Mr. Clarke’s collection of reptiles and amphibians. The professor encouraged him to go to college and Mr. Clarke graduated from KSTC in Emporia in 1955 and in 1957 with a master’s degree in biology. He received the National Academy of Science Fellowship to complete his doctorate in zoology at the University of Oklahoma in 1963 and the family returned to Emporia.
He married Elaine McNabb of Melvern in 1947. She died earlier.
As a naturalist and educator, he taught in several areas of biology for more than 30 years; published more than 50 works on herpetology identification and research; established the CPR training programs in Emporia; was instrumental in starting the Chickadee Check-Off Program to assist non-game animals in Kansas; was a frequent speaker at colleges and universities as part of the American Institute of Biological Scientists; was the editor and editor emeritus and one of the creators of the Kansas School Naturalist. As an artist and naturalist, he was ranked in the top 10 of Kansas wildlife artists. He designed and illustrated many association conference covers; illustrated several of the Kansas School Naturalists, including “Poisonous Snakes of Kansas.” He developed and illustrated more than 100 cartoon-like panels, “Something Wild,” that were published in more than 25 Kansas newspapers.
He was the past president of the Kansas Academy of Science in 1981; was editor of “Transcripts” Southwest Association of Naturalists in 1971; held other offices for 13 years; Kansas Herpetological Society in 1972; was co-founder of the Kansas Conservation Forum; and held more than 20 professional memberships. He is listed in Who’s Who: American Men of Science; Who’s Who of Education and others. He also was a founder and twice president of the Emporia Antique Auto Club.
He received the Kansas Conservation Communicator Award in 1991; Robert L. Packard Outstanding Educator Award by the Southwestern Association of Naturalists in 1989; the Governor’s Award, “Kansas Conservationist of the Year” in 1982; and other awards. He was named Distinguished Alumni by ESU in 1991; ESU Emeritus Professor in 1986; and Xi Phi Outstanding Graduate Student in Biology in 1961 from the University of Oklahoma.
He is survived by one daughter, Linda Clarke of Emporia; one son, John Clarke of Wichita; and four granddaughters.
The graveside service will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Melvern Cemetery at Melvern. The Rev. Daryl McNab of the Peniel Bible Church at Waverly will conduct the service. The family will meet friends from 7 to 8 p.m. today at the Roberts-Blue-Barnett Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions to the Robert F. Clarke Memorial Biology Scholarship may be sent in care of the funeral home, P.O. Box 175, Emporia, KS 66801.