Clark J. Reese was born in Pico Rivera, California, August 29, 1944, and died January 24, 2018 at Palmetto Tuomey Hospital.

He grew up in California graduating from El Rancho High School in 1962. He completed his BS in Engineering Science at Antioch College (Yellow Springs, Ohio) in 1967. During his time at Antioch, he also studied at the University of Melbourne in Australia. He went on to graduate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Boston) with an MS in Electrical Engineering in 1969.

It was in Boston that he met his wife of 45 years, Helen M. Aarons, They were married in 1970 and moved to Houston, Texas, where he began his employment as an engineer for Shell Oil. In 1976 he was transferred to the Marietta Plant (Belpre, Ohio) where he worked until his retirement in 1996.

During this time he resided in Parkersburg, West Virginia, where he sang with the People’s Choice choir and the Parkersburg Choral Society, was a member the Parkersburg Rotary Club with a special dedication to its Youth Exchange Program, and volunteered with the Wood County Schools’ Partners in Education program. After his retirement, he also served as a substitute teacher for Wood County Schools.

In 2012, he moved to Sumter and enjoyed singing with the Sumter Choral Society, volunteering at the Sumter County Genealogical Center, and playing racquetball at the YMCA.

He is survived by his daughter, Michele Reese; grandsons Julian William Wright and Mitchel Norman Wright Reese; and their father Charles William Wright III, all of Sumter.

He was preceded in death by his wife; parents, Sherwood Ray and Francis Jewell (Keeling) Reese; and brothers, Raywood Reese, Kern Allen Reese, and Benjamin Alva Reese.

A graveside service will be held at noon Saturday, February 10 in the St. Lawrence Catholic Cemetery, Sumter.

Family and friends will gather afterward at 615 Ginhouse Drive, Sumter.

Memorial donations in honor of Clark can be made to an educational organization of your choosing.

Elmore-Cannon-Stephens Funeral Home and Crematorium of Sumter is in charge of the arrangements.

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