Gerald Clark, a leading force for business development in New Haven’s Black community for a half century, died Sunday at the age of 93.
He died peacefully at his home in Hamden after a long illness, according to his family.
Clark founded and served as executive director of the Greater New Haven Business & Professional Organization, a group dedicated to helping Black-owned small companies succeed. He was a founding director of the Dixwell Plaza Merchants Association, among many other civic responsibilities.
One of the most influential figures in the Greater New Haven community for over 50 years, Clark helped many new businesses start and grow throughout the state.
“Gerald Clark inspired Black business owners for generations. He was a leader who created opportunity for many,” former Mayor Toni Harp said Monday.
Probate Judge and longtime civil rights advocate Clifton Graves Jr., the nephew of Clark’s second wife, Yvonne, called Clark a “great man” and “iconic figure” for his “promotion and development of African-American owned businesses. An integral part of New Haven’s economic development community, Uncle Gerald will be sorely missed, but his legacy will live on.”
Gerald Clark was born on New Year’s Day in 1929 in Tuskegee, Alabama. He was the second child born to William Arthur Clark, dean of education at Tuskegee Institute, and Olivia White Clark. He was raised on the campus of Tuskegee Institute, where he and his family resided. He attended and graduated high school from Palmer Institute in Sedelia, N.C., in 1946.
After high school he attended Hampton Institute as a second-generation student and graduated with a BS degree in 1950 with a major in business administration. While at Hampton Institute he met and married Mary Vaughn Clark. They moved to Tougaloo, Mississippi, where he worked at Tougaloo College. Upon leaving Tougaloo, he then joined the U.S. Army and was stationed in Japan for one year. He was honorably discharged from active service as Lieutenant Clark in 1952. He remained in the Army Reserve for the next 28 years, retiring as a lieutenant colonel.
In 1952 Gerald and his wife Mary returned to New Haven, which was Mary’s hometown, and had their first son. Gerald worked for Sargent’s and Armstrong Rubber Company. In 1953 he began his graduate studies at New York University, earning an MBA degree in 1955.
After his graduation, the family moved to Lorman, Mississippi, where he became the business manager, comptroller and assistant professor at Alcorn A & M College. Their second son was born in Mississippi.
In September 1959 after receiving threats from the Klu Klux Klan, Gerald moved his family back to New Haven. It took him five months, during which time he applied for over 500 positions before he found a job working as a purchasing specialist at the United Illuminating Company.
Gerald Clark remained at the UI Company until 1965, when he resigned to open his own businesses: The Gerald S. Clark Insurance Agency and Acres Real Estate. While managing his own businesses, he also held the following positions: administrative assistant to the manager of administration at Winchester-Western Division Olin; president, executive director at The Greater New Haven Business & Professional Men’s Association (GNHBP); chairman of the Greater New Haven Business Development Corporation and general manager at Business Ventures, Inc.; consulting principal/corporate manager/associate at Profiles, Inc.; president, Plaza Office Building, Inc.; executive director at New Haven Business Resource Center, Inc.
In 1974, he married Yvonne M. Clark. Around 1986, Gerald became the principal owner of Spectrum Associates, a management consulting firm which he ran with his wife Yvonne.
He continued to be active in the community, and it has been said “there is no part of the City of New Haven that hasn’t been affected by his influence.” Clark had been been a member of the Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, the Tennis Foundation of Connecticut Board of Directors, Science Park Development Corp., Chapel Square of New Haven, Inc., the Minority Enterprise Small Business Investment Corp., the Airport Commission, the City-Wide School Building Committee, The New Haven Scholarship Fund, the NAACP, the Technology Investment Fund, Junior Achievement, Heritage Hall Development Corporation, Urban League of Greater New Haven, 5th District Democratic Club, Tennis Racquet Wielders Club, Hamden Black Coalition, Hamden Board of Education, and Flood and Erosion Control board of Hamden.
Gerald’s awards and honors are numerous. He received an honorary doctorate degree from Albertus Magnus College and has been inducted into the GNHBP Hall of Fame and the Junior Achievement Hall of Fame. In 2004, the New Haven Chamber of Commerce presented him with its highest honor, the Community Leadership Award. In 2005 he was selected Man of the Year by the Chamber.
Gerald was an avid tennis player who earned many trophies and at one time he was ranked #1 senior amateur in New England and played tennis in the Senior Olympics. He loved attending the annual SNET Classic/Volvo tournament.
At the time of his passing, Gerald was a member of The Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ. In the past he also served a member of the Finance Board of Dixwell Avenue Congregational UCC.
Among his accomplishments, he was most proud of his children, grand-children and great grandchildren.
He was predeceased by his parents; his sister, Wilhelminia Sarari-Clark; his wife of 32 years, Yvonne Clark; his stepdaughter, Muriel LaTanya Wylie (who passed August 2022); his daughter-in-law, Terry Clark, who passed in January 2022; and his former wife, Mary Vaughn Clark. He is survived by his two sons, William A. Clark (Dr. Debra M. Bond) of Hamden and Gerald S. Clark, Jr. of Springfield, Mass.; his grandchildren, Maraya Olivia Clark of Richmond, Virginia, Allyssia Clark, Gerald Clark III., and Justin Clark of Springfield, Mass., Michael Riddick (Eneris) of Winston Salem, N.C. and Marques Riddick (Betsy) of Grand Cayman Island; a niece, Dr. Hillary Weaver of Buffalo, N.Y.; and former daughter-in-law, Lisa Byers of Springfield. He has 13 great grandchildren, a great niece and a great nephew and host of other relatives and friends.
The funeral is scheduled to take place Friday, Sept. 16, at Dixwell Avenue Congregational United Church of Christ, 217 Dixwell Ave., New Haven. Viewing: 9 – 11 a.m. Service: 11 a.m. Interment: Evergreen Cemetery, 789 Ella T. Grasso Blvd.