JAMES RUSSELL CLARK
(1931-2018)
Jim Clark, 87, the founder and former President and Chairman of West Sacramento-based Clark Pacific, one of the nation’s leading suppliers of architectural and structural precast concrete solutions, died peacefully November 13, 2018, at his home in Davis, CA, with his family by his side.
A fourth-generation Californian, Jim was born August 7, 1931 in Lompoc, CA. His father was a blacksmith in the gold mines, and Jim grew up during the depression in Grass Valley and Manteca as the third of four children. Jim’s love for construction began as a child, and at the young age of 14, he converted a chicken coop into a home where the family lived for 30 years.
Jim attended UC Berkeley. Helped in part by a football scholarship, Jim paid his own way through college. Even while spending many hours practicing football, cleaning the stadium, working at the post office, and studying civil engineering, he was never too busy to see life as a fun adventure. During the summers he enjoyed exciting times working as a logger.
After receiving his Bachelor of Science in Engineering in 1953, Jim joined the US Marine Corps as a 1st Lieutenant for two years. Jim then embarked on his engineering and construction career in San Francisco with John D. Blume Engineering for seven years, earning both his civil and structural engineering licenses. San Francisco was where he met and married the love of his life, Sharron Kinch, a soon-to-be Stanford nursing graduate. (Jim and Sharron recently celebrated 61 years of marriage).
In 1961, Jim decided to pursue more hands-on opportunities in the engineering and construction field, finding a position with Continental Heller, a general contracting firm in Sacramento, CA, where he worked as an estimator and project manager. In 1965 he was transferred to the company’s small prefabrication subsidiary known as Tecon Pacific, located in West Sacramento. As General Manager, Jim applied his strong work ethic and engineering expertise to make the fledgling company a success. Jim played a pioneering role in the industry. With his own team and later with like-minded industry innovators across the country, Jim developed architectural finishes for the California market, introduced new systems, innovative steel forming techniques, connection concepts, and rigging and transportation concepts that are still used by the company and more widely by the industry today.
In 1978, Jim became a partner in the company and in 1991, together with his two sons, Bob and Don, purchased the remaining portion of the business and changed the name to Clark Pacific. What had started out as a small subsidiary on just a few acres has grown into one of the largest manufacturers of prefabricated building systems in the country with over 1300 employees, having delivered prefabricated concrete building systems on thousands of projects, including state office buildings, hospitals, parking structures, student housing projects and sports venues up and down the West Coast. Jim Clark’s entrepreneurial spirit, legendary work ethic and business acumen remain key elements of the driving force behind Clark Pacific’s success and are part of his enduring legacy at the company and in the men and women who work there.
Jim was passionate about the business and the industry. He loved what he did and what the company he had helped build accomplished over the years. He had such great love and admiration for the people he worked with and the great things they accomplished together. He had a passion for engineering that was with him throughout his life, making sure things were done right: that work was planned and that plans were tested (mocked-up) before being finalized.
While business and his profession were important to Jim, his most fulfilling role in life was being a husband and a father. He and Sharron raised their five children along the Sacramento River. They renovated an old country home, where the family raised dogs, cats, chickens, ducks, goats, donkeys, horses, rabbits, even a pet crow and Bingo the monkey. Along with their country-living adventures, they all enjoyed camping, white water rafting, motor home trips, and boating together. While boating, Jim told the children, “You’d better be good swimmers because if this boat sinks, I’m saving your mother first.” Jim and Sharron loved adventure travel. Their adventures spanned the world from safaris in Africa to trekking the Atlas Mountains of Morocco; from boating on the Amazon to exploring the Galapagos Islands; from scuba diving in Fiji to swimming at the North Pole. (Yes, Jim jumped in the Arctic Ocean, much to Sharron’s consternation!)
Jim approached the onset of Parkinson’s Disease in the mid-1990s with the same determination that he brought to all other life challenges. He strategized with researchers, physicians, and his family to make a plan that allowed him to continue a vibrant life at each stage of the progressive illness which accompanied him for the next 22 years. He said at the time: “I may not be on top of my game for the next 20 years, but I will have the great satisfaction of knowing I gave it my best shot.” And he did. He stayed positive throughout, doing regular exercise (he could do a 5-minute plank even when he could barely walk), taking singing lessons, and repeatedly picking himself up after falls. Throughout this time, he always focused on others, tirelessly looking to understand their lives and genuinely encourage them in their pursuits.
Jim’s winning smile, unending energy, great sense of humor, and love for his wife, family, company and community will be dearly missed and always remembered.
Jim Clark is survived by his wife of 61 years, Sharron Kinch Clark and their five children, Robin Bevier (Bill) of Gold River, CA, Maureen (Dennis) Guerrieri of Davis, CA, Don (Karen) Clark of Clarksburg, CA, Bob (Margot) Clark of Davis, CA, and Tracy (Chris) Ferragamo of Davis, CA, and their dearly beloved 19 grandchildren, and 12 great-grandchildren.
Friends and family are invited to the Sutter Club, (1220 9th Street) on November 28th for a memorial service at 11:00 and a reception at 12:30 celebrating Jim’s life.
In lieu of flowers the family requests any remembrances from Jim’s friends in the industry be sent to the PCI Foundation (www.pci-foundation.org), to be used to support education and further the industry Jim loved.
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Significant contributions made to PCI and the precast/prestressed concrete industry as of April 28, 2000:
A. Jim Clark is one of the pioneers in Architectural Precast Concrete. He has been General Manager of Clark Pacific, originally Tecon Pacific, since 1965, and owner of Clark Pacific since 1980.
B. Jim Clark had a strong, well-rounded background prior to entering the precast concrete industry:
1. BSCE Berkeley
2. Lieutenant in the Marines.
3. Worked for a Structural Engineering Firm for seven years
4. Worked for a General Contractor for three years.
C. Jim Clark is responsible for developing Clark Pacific as one of the largest Architectural Precast producers on the West Coast. Some of the accomplishments of Clark Pacific under Jim Clark’s management are as follows:
1. Engineered, produced, and installed Architectural Precast or GFRC on over 1,000 buildings throughout California and Nevada.
2. One of the largest producers of GFRC since 1980.
3. In addition to Architectural Precast, Clark Pacific has produced and installed multiple precast prisons, stadiums and other speciality structural precast work.
4. Clark Pacific partnered with Forest City Dillon during the 1980's to produce 55 high-rise precast buildings for elderly housing consisting of 11,000 individual apartment units.
D. Past President (multiple times) and active member of PCMAC during the 1970's and 1980's.
E. Some innovative items that Jim Clark was involved with:
1. Architectural Precast Mix Designs. Jim helped develop the exposed aggregate finish in California. In the 1960's and 1970's he researched all known quarries in California and personally made sample batches using these materials.
2. Innovative Steel Forming Techniques. Jim helped develop steel forming techniques for complicated architectural precast pieces that allowed proper consolidation for uniform finishes and multiple use.
3. Special Handling and Transportation Techniques. Jim helped develop handling and transportation techniques for large four inch (4") thick panels.
4. Patching of Architectural Precast. During the 1960's, Jim helped develop techniques for patching architectural precast.
5. Supported GFRC Industry Development. Jim was on the committee that developed the first edition of the PCI GFRC Recommended Practice booklet. Since that time he has provided continued leadership to the various Clark Pacific members of the GFRC committee.