IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Otis Grandville

Otis Grandville Clark Profile Photo

Clark

Feb 13, 1902 — May 21, 2012

Obituary

Otis Clark, a world-traveling evangelist and one-time butler to Hollywood stars who was believed to be the oldest living survivor of the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, died Monday in Seattle, Washington. Service: 10 a.m. Saturday at Eagle Mountain International Church. Interment: Dido Cemetery Mr. Clark was a minister for more than 85 years, and had spent the last few years as a bishop with Life Enrichment Ministries, an organization he co-founded with his daughter, Gwyn Williams. A former Tulsa resident, Clark more recently had split time between his homes in Seattle and Dallas. He was born before Oklahoma statehood on February 13, 1903, on a homestead near Guthrie. Otis G. Clark grew up in Tulsa, where in 1921 his familys home burned during the race riot. The riot claimed at least 38 lives and probably more - including Clarks stepfather, who was never found - and left thousands of black Tulsans homeless and destitute. For the next four years, the Clark family would live in shanties built by the Red Cross. Clark eventually left Tulsa and joined his father, who was living in Hollywood, Calif. There, he found work as an extra in the movie industry and would later tell stories of working as a butler for Clark Gable, Charlie Chaplin and other stars. Also while in California, Clark got involved with the famous Azusa Street Mission, the birthplace of the Pentecostal movement. He was ordained as a minister and became a leader in the movement, spending much of the next few decades preaching and evangelizing. He came through Tulsa from time to time on visits and eventually moved back. Even into his 100s, Clark continued to drive and handle most of his daily chores by himself. At 104, he traveled to Zimbabwe for a three-week mission trip and as recently as January was evangelizing in Canada. In 2008, Clark and other riot survivors assembled in Tulsa for the premiere of "Before They Die," a documentary film about the riot and the survivors ongoing struggle for reparations. "We had our own little town down there. We never got nothing for it. Nothing," Clark told the Tulsa World News at the time. He was optimistic overall, however, about race relations, noting that during his lifetime he had witnessed great change. "Were doing better between the races. we get along better than we did back then. We have more freedom now. We can do things we couldnt do then." The Rev. Gary McIntosh of Tulsas Greenwood Christian Center, who knew Clark for 25 years and will speak at the memorial service, said Clark "lived a simple life; he was relaxed and peaceful. But he lived with intention - and that was to live the goodness of God. "Despite all that he had seen, he always said, I want to be better not bitter. And he wasnt." State Rep. Jabar Shumate, D-Tulsa, said Clark was "bright and energetic" when he was with him recently in Washington, D.C. "He was the most humble man I have ever met," Shumate said. Williams said her dad ate healthy food and was still active at 109. He wore glasses to read but took no medications and still had his own teeth. "The biggest thing Im going to miss about him is the hope that he gave other people to go on, young and old - how he inspired others," Williams said. "You have a lot of pastors who retire at 65, but here he was, still traveling the world and looking ahead," she added. Otis Clark: Reflecting on the Tulsa Race Riot in 2008, he noted the changes he had seen in his lifetime, telling the Tulsa World, "Were doing better between the races. we get along better than we did back then. We have more freedom now. We can do things we couldnt do then." (Story by: Tim Stanley, World Staff Writer) He was preceded in death by two wives. Survivors: include his daughter, Gwyn Williams, and one granddaughter.
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