John Willoughby
reporter2@greenepublishing.com
It's easy to say Jargo Clark was a larger-than-life figure. His humility exemplified his character, and his life of humble service to others serves as an example to those who knew him.
At the age of 102, William "Jargo" Clark passed away on Saturday, Sept. 12, where he is now reunited with the love of his life, Eunice Priest Clark. Beggs Funeral Home is in charge of the arrangements and a private service will be held.
Born on Dec. 4, 1917, Clark was raised in Blountstown, Fla., and received the famous moniker "Jargo" at a young age, when his family took him to the Mighty Hag Shows Circus, from Albany, Ga. Clark was instantly terrified of a clown named "Jargo," and afterwards, whenever Clark would misbehave, he was told, "Gonna get that Jargo after you." He heard it so much that he began to be called "Jargo," which stuck. It was also much shorter than William Burton.
Clark made his way to Madison in the late 30s when he went to work for his uncle, Henry Messer, while remaining a pre-med student at the University of Alabama. However, he met Eunice Priest, the oldest daughter of Van H. Priest, and never made it back to medical school. They soon tied the knot and later had four children: Rosemary Clark-Stiefel, William B. Clark IV, Peggy Clark and Elizabeth Clark-Rotter.
From 1939 to 1985, Clark worked for his father-in-law at The Van H. Priest Co., traveling around to the 20 chain department stores scattered across the region while Priest remained at the store headquarters. Aside from his work with Priest, Clark's life was filled with community involvement, especially with the Madison Rotary Club, of which he was founding member in 1948. Up until recently, Clark was still a regular attendee of Madison Rotary Club meetings and would drive himself.
"That was among his highest achievements and commitments," said fellow Rotarian Joe Boyles about Clark's involvement with the Madison Rotary Club. "He was a very, very devout man. In my estimate, Jargo Clark was among, if not the most generous men [I know], and I consider generosity a great, great trait."
Clark was also a Master Mason and a Shriner. A member of Madison Masonic Lodge No. 11, Clark received his Master Mason degree in April of 1942 and served as Worshipful Master of the lodge in 1948. He was the longest-serving member of the local lodge at 78 ½ years, according to secretary Jim Stanley.
His community service didn't stop just at the doors of the Madison Rotary Club and Madison Masonic Lodge though. Since 1958, Clark has also been deeply involved with the Southern Scholarship Foundation, which helps provide housing for deserving college and university students around the state. Over the years, more than 12,00 college students, including over 500 from Madison County, have been assisted.
Throughout his noteworthy life, Clark has always been a willing individual when it came to helping someone, when and wherever he could. One such instance had an effect that even Clark could not have foreseen.
The story goes back to the time when Clark would travel to New York City to attend a toy show every year. Years after making the acquaintance of a representative from Parker Brothers, Clark was in New York on another one of his trips to the toy show when met a gentleman while waiting to board a subway train back to the motel. Clark noticed this man had what appeared to be playing cards in his bag, and Clark said to him, "You must be a toy buyer and someone has given you a game."
The man explained that he was a barber from Cincinnati, and he had invented a card game he enjoyed playing with his grandchildren. The man said the game had been popular with customers in his barber ship, and he had been encouraged to bring his game to the tow show. The man had taken his entire savings of $8,000 and had used the money to make professional-looking copies of his game, but no one had expressed any interest during the four days he had been in New York.
He told Clark the thing he dreaded most was having to face his wife and tell her he had spent their entire savings on a "silly game." Deciding to help, Clark took out one of his cards and wrote the name of his friend at Parker Brothers on the back and instructed the man to get in touch with Clark's friend and asked if he would, as a favor to Clark, take a look at the game and see if it was worthwhile.
Deciding to give it one more try, Parker Brothers bought the game for $50,000 and agreed to pay the man, Merle Robbins, a royalty of ten cents for every copy of the game sold. The name of the card game – Uno.
In a 2017 interview with Greene Publishing, Inc., just before his 100th birthday, Clark reminded all: "You cannot do something for someone else without doing something for yourself at the same time." The legacy he leaves behind can surely be used as a lesson to all. Goodbye, Jargo.