Arthur Clark, Jr., long-time publisher of source material in the field of the American West, died Easter Sunday, March 27, at his residence in Spokane, Washington, after a brief illness. His ninety-two years encompassed a rich life filled with family, friends, service, and professional accomplishments. His wife, Ruth, deeply mourns his passing after almost sixty-nine years of marriage. He is survived, in addition, by his sister, Mary Clark Gash of Walnut Creek, California; and sons Thomas and wife Jean, and Robert and wife Sheila. Seven grandchildren, three great-grandchildren, and a host of relatives and friends will miss his ever-present good humor and conviviality.

Born in Bedford, Ohio, Art’s father had founded the company that bears their name some ten years earlier. Following Art’s graduation from high school in 1930, his father moved the business from Cleveland to Glendale, California, and Art and a friend drove across the country in a 1926 Chevrolet. After arriving in Southern California, he enrolled at Occidental College. In his sophomore year he met freshman Ruth Evans, and they began a four-year courtship culminating in their marriage May 29, 1936, in Pasadena.

Art went to work with his father and his future partner, Paul Galleher, following his graduation from Occidental in June 1934. His career in the bookselling and publishing world included the acquisition and cataloging of major collections of books and materials in American history. He developed a card database system for the company in the late '30s and early '40s. In the late '40s he began to assume responsibility for the publications department. Following his father’s death in 1951, he and Paul Galleher shared ownership of the business.

As editor, designer, and publisher of several hundred books over a sixty-year career, he worked with many of the top historians of the American West in developing and producing major contributions to our western legacy. He joined the Western History Association at the time of its founding, and was awarded a life membership in 1991 by President David J. Weber. He was an active member of the Historical Society of Southern California. He had great affection for the Los Angeles Corral of the Westerners, serving as Sheriff in 1953, and continued to be active in its affairs until he relocated to Spokane, Washington, in 2000.

Throughout his life he was dedicated to community service through a variety of local agencies and clubs, and he devoted innumerable hours of volunteer work to the betterment of his fellow man. A gentle man imbued with modesty and grace, he will be dearly missed by those whose pleasure it was to share in his life. 

Jeff Limerick knew more about the architecture of the American West than anyone; those fortunate enough to go on one of his city tours during a WHA meeting would surely attest to as much. Those who had the great good fortune to sit and chat with Jeff will confirm that he knew more about most things than just about anyone. Innovative architect and architectural scholar, brilliant conversationalist, wonderfully kind and considerate person, he will be missed by so many people. Jeff suffered a major stroke on January 31, and died the following evening, February 1. 

Jeff was born on May 1, 1948, in Lafayette, Indiana. He received a Bachelor of Architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley and a Master of Architecture degree from Yale University. He and Patricia Nelson Limerick married on June 28, 1980. They moved to Boulder, Colorado in 1984 and Jeff designed their beautiful home. Like all the buildings he designed, it embraced its surroundings and fit perfectly in place.

Jeff co-authored America’s Grand Resort Hotels (1979) with Richard Oliver and Nancy Ferguson and was writing another book, “How to Work with an Architect.”  He was a member of the American Institute of Architects. He team taught with Cesar Pelli at the Yale School of Architecture and worked as a designer for architectural firms in Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. 

Jeff truly brought out the best in everyone he came into contact with, and at his memorial service, at the Old Main Chapel on the campus of the University of Colorado, Boulder, on February 12, a large group of friends and family gathered to celebrate his life and remember the myriad ways in which he made better people of all who knew him. He attended WHA meetings with Patty for two decades and cared very deeply about the organization. He would often chuckle over the occasional fault lines that have appeared in the organization as personalities and political agendas clashed, but his good humor rested on a deep understanding that those fault lines are far weaker than the ties that bind us across professional, generational, gender, racial, and ethnic lines. As Patty has written, “his influence and inspiration will be with us forever.”