A graveside service with military honors by Florence Veterans Honor Guard for Howard Welch Clarke will be at 2:00PM Tuesday July 6, 2010 in Mt. Hope Cemetery conducted by his son in law, Rev. Lonnie Curl. The family will receive friends following the service at the cemetery. Memorials may be made to St. Jude's Children's Home, 501 St. Jude Pl., Memphis, TN 38105. Cain Funeral Home is assisting the family. Mr. Clarke, 78, died Sunday July 4, 2010, at his residence. He was born June 18, 1932 in Florence, to Howard Sanborn and Carrie Lee Weatherford Clarke. He was also predeceased by son, Dean Sanborn Clarke. He was a visionary and entrepreneur. Mr. Clarke served in the US Air Force during the Korean Conflict. Following his military service he worked as a Pressroom Foreman for the Florence Morning News. He started with his former wife, Elsie Clarke Lowder, Honorage Nursing Home on TV Road. He went on to become the longest active administrator of skilled nursing care in the state at Honorage Nursing Center on Cashua Dr. He was also a founding stockholder in Cain Funeral Home. Surviving are: daughter - Anita (Lonnie) Curl of Florence; grandchildren, Devlin Curl, Kreston Curl, Emery Curl and Gabriel Curl; loyal and loving companion, Pam Taylor of Florence.