RULON W. CLARK 1893-1983

It is a privilege for me to have the opportunity of honoring one more outstanding member of the Ezra T. Clark Family Association. I came to know Judge Rulon W. Clark since my returning to Utah in 1968 in connection with the Family Association. I had the pleasure of interviewing him several times in the years before his death. Like so many Clarks he had a keen active mind right up to the time of his death.

Rulon W. Clark was born to Edward Barrett and Wealthy Richards Clark at Farmington on January 17, 1893. His father the sixth son of Ezra T. Clark and Mary Stevenson Clark came into the world in Farmington, April 7, 1859. His mother Wealthy Richards Clark was born to Franklin D. and Mary Thompson Richards on March 21, 1861 also in Farmington and Davis County as a stock farmer and banker. Popular in the community he held many elective political positions in Farmington and in Davis County. Active in the Church he was called to many positions of service.

Rulon grew up as a member of a hardworking farm family. There were cows to milk, livestock to care for, crops to tend, fruit to pick, and hay to put up and to take to customers in Salt Lake. Although busily engaged on the family farm. Rulon found time to play the many games that young boys have always played such as marbles, kick the can, and others. Farmington at the time was a wonderful place in which to grow up. It was a unified cohesive community with a firm set of shared values. Although rural it was within a short commuting distance from Salt Lake City. Through the Church it was integrated into the larger Mormon world.

Graduating from the eighth grade in the public schools of Farmington in 1908, Rulon and other young people of the community who wished to go on to highschool were forced to travel to Salt Lake City, as there were no nearby highschools. Rulon records that for four years he and his brother Edward would milk cows, place the cans of ilk on the Bamberger, and travel into Salt lake City to attend the L.D.S. High School. Apparently Rulon did not enjoy his years at the L.D.S. Having to work on the farm before and after school, he had little time for study. A young farm boy he seems to have been ill at ease in the company of more sophisticated young people from Salt Lake City. However, he persisted and graduated from highschool in 1912.

Upon graduation from highschool, he attended the University of Utah. A good basketball player he made captain of the freshman team and later in the school year plated on the university team. That year his team won the state championship and went on to become the champions of the Rocky Mountain Conference. Popular with his fellow athletes, he was elected captain of the team in the spring of 1915 and in 1916 lead the team to a national AAUP championship.

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