Plant City retiree remembered for his role in first moon mission

Eldon Leroy Clark, a former Boeing electrical engineer who played a role in the first manned flight to the moon, died June 2 at a local retirement home.

Clark, who was 88, was never as famous as the three-man, Apollo 8 crew he helped place in orbit around the moon in December 1968. The astronauts, Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, were the first humans to see the far side of the moon

Clark was Boeing's chief electrical engineer at the time and he worked at the company's New Orleans plant. He helped design and install the electrical system for the Saturn V first-stage rocket engine that took the crew into space.

His wife, Madge, said he was proud but didn't talk much about his work on the project.

"It was very exciting. Eldon didn't talk about it much, other than what was in the newspapers. But when Apollo 8 was orbiting the moon I remember us sitting outside staring at the moon; trying to see more than we could see," she said.

Clark died in his sleep at Stone Ledge Manor, near Antioch. He and his wife had lived in the assisted living facility since October.

"We knew his time was near," said Marcia Miller, Clark's daughter. "The family spent all day Monday with Mom and Dad. He was resting comfortably, but he was happy and glad we were there."

Clark was born in Virginia, Neb., where he attended the lone high school there, and Peru State College, also in Nebraska.

"I was a freshman in college when Eldon and I first met," said Madge Clark, his wife for almost 68 years. "For me it was love at first sight. He was a sweet and beautiful man. I loved him dearly."

Madge Clark was raised in Hamburg, Iowa. After finishing high school she went to Peru to get a teaching degree.

"Eldon and I were married June 26, 1941," Madge recalled from her suite at Stone Ledge Manor. "Then Pearl Harbor was bombed by the Japanese and our world was turned upside down."

Madge didn't finish college, but took a teaching job in Wichita, Kan., were she moved with Eldon, who finished his senior year at Kansas State University. He received an engineering degree there. Their daughter Marcia was born while they lived in Wichita.

Eldon soon joined the Army Air Force and was trained to fly B-17 and B-24 bombers.

During his career Clark worked with Beechcraft, but moved to Boeing in the 1960s.

Following the Apollo contract, Clark moved with his family to Seattle, where he worked with Boeing on the design and construction of a hovercraft for the military. Twenty years ago, the couple moved to St. Petersburg to be near their daughter, Marcia, who with her husband, John Miller established Marjon Specialty Foods on Sydney Road. Ten years ago, the Clarks moved into a house in Walden Lake.

The Rev. Joe Bowles, pastor at Shiloh Baptist Church, where the Clarks attended, called him a "remarkable man" at a June 5 service at Wells Memorial Chapel.

"He was more witty, intelligent and sharper than all of us in this room - at least in my circle of friends," Bowles quipped. "Most importantly, Mr. Clark knew where he was going in all things.

"He may never have gone to the moon, himself. But now he has travelled past the moon, and we must trust in the all knowing God that Mr. Clark is with him now."

Clark is survived by his wife, his daughter and her husband, grandchildren April Miller and Amy Tucker; and five great-grandchildren.