Dec. 27-Longtime Patrick County Attorney dies at age 90 on Monday, December 27, 2010. He practiced law in Patrick County for half century and served as commonwealth attorney for 28 years, die at home.
Source: Martinsville Bulletin, Dec. 27-1010
Longtime Patrick County attorney dies at 90
Martin F. Clark Sr.'s impact called 'enormous'
Martin F. "Fill" Clark Sr. is seen in a 1977 Bulletin photo. He died Friday.
Monday, December 27, 2010
Martin Fillmore “Fill� Clark Sr., who practiced law in Patrick County for a half century and served as commonwealth’s attorney for 28 years, died Friday at his home in Stuart. He was 90.
Clark, a native of Patrick County, served in the Navy during World War II and later earned a law degree from T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond. He went on to serve as president of the Patrick County Bar Association for more than a decade.
According to a 1976 Bulletin profile, Clark returned to Patrick County as a lawyer in 1950. He had passed the bar exam before he actually received his law school diploma.
He first was elected Patrick County’s commonwealth’s attorney in 1951 and noted in the 1976 interview that when he began, the office “was just me.� Clark said bootlegging and violent crime were common in the beginning of his tenure, but that changed later as crimes against property — breaking and entering, car theft, vandalism — grew.
The bureaucracy involved with the job also increased, he noted in 1976.
“Now you’ve got to send this report to this person, that report to that one. When I first started as commonwealth’s attorney, you did the best job you could in an honest, satisfactory manner — the best that you could — and more or less made your own decisions, what you felt were right.�
According to Bulletin reports, Clark worked closely with Patrick County government and took many trips to Richmond to sit in on legislative sessions and lobby for the interests of Patrick County.
Unopposed for re-election more often than not, Clark lost a heated contest in 1979. His opponent in that race, Lawrence R. Burton, accused Clark of wielding too much power, referring to his time in office as “one-man rule.�
Clark addressed that criticism in a 1979 Bulletin article.
“Some people would like to say that I run this county, that I’m a political boss,� he said then. “That’s just plain idiotic. ... I’ve been hearing these same rumors for years, and not one person has come to me and confronted me with any facts.�
After losing the election, Clark worked in private practice for many years.
Barnie Day, a former member of the Virginia House of Delegates and former Patrick County supervisor and administrator, said he got to know Clark during that time. Day described him as “an American original.�
“He was an extremely shrewd attorney, and he had just an uncommon insight into people,� Day said. That insight helped him succeed in many areas, Day said.
“This guy was lethally effective in everything he did, from politics to law,� Day said, adding that Clark worked for “the common good for the common population of this county. His impact over the years was enormous.�
“All of which is not to say he was an angel — I don’t think any of us are,� Day said. “But in a courtroom, you wanted him with you instead of against you.�
Clark’s influence was not limited to Patrick County, Day said. Instead, he was respected across Virginia.
“He was extremely well regarded across the state, and he was plugged in politically to the Nth degree,� Day said.
Former Virginia attorney general Mary Sue Terry, who worked as an assistant commonwealth’s attorney under Clark, once credited him with encouraging her to run for a seat in the General Assembly.
“It’s because of Fill Clark that people like me had a chance in politics,� Terry told a Bulletin reporter after winning re-election to the 13th District House of Delegates seat in 1979.
Clark knew how to stay a step ahead of everyone else, Day said.
“I think the best way to put it would be this: He was always waiting on you at the next intersection,� Day said.
“We’re not likely to see his likes again,� he added. “He practiced law for what? ... Sixty years? That’s a pretty good run.�
Clark’s wife, Hazel Young Clark, preceded him in death. Survivors include his son, Patrick County Circuit Court Judge Martin F. Clark Jr., and several other relatives.
Reference: http://www.martinsvillebulletin.com/
