Obituary of Clifford D. Stark

Clifford D. Stark On January 29, 2014, Clifford passed away at Oak Hill Hospital near his home in Brooksville, FL. Born in Hartford, Cliff spent most of his early life in Bloomfield, CT, where he graduated from Bloomfield H.S. in 1945. He attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and graduated from Trinity College in 1951. Always active in sports, he played varsity soccer, baseball, and basketball in high school, and varsity soccer at Rensselaer and Trinity, as well as semi-professional soccer in CT, NY, and Ohio. He held an NCAA National Coaching Diploma in soccer, and he briefly successfully coached a college soccer team upon his retirement from business. He is a former member of both the Roseland Park Tennis Club, and Quinnatisset CC. When in FL, he spent considerable time playing Marina golf course and Burnt Store in Punta Gorda. He loved table tennis, square dancing, and singing in a mixed chorus as well as a barbershop quartet. Mr. Stark started his business career as a Management Trainee with GE in Schenectady, later moving to Cincinnati, as an Accounting Analyst for the same company. In 1953 he joined Jack's Tasty Snack Corp., Oneida, NY as a Staff Assistant to the owners. In 1955 he entered the specialty food brokerage business, and he owned a New England specialty food brokerage business known as M.A.R. Associates. Its headquarters was in Woodstock, CT, with branches in several other New England towns. He was a Charter Member of the National Association of Specialty Food & Confection Brokers, serving as its Secretary and President, as well as in other offices. Cliff joined the Woodstock, CT Lions Club in 1958, and filled various roles including President in 1962. He also served on the District 23-C Cabinet of CT Lionism holding several offices before becoming District Governor in 1965-66. In 1967 he was the Chairman for International Convention Activities for Lions from CT. He was a Past Master of Cornerstone-Quinebaug Masonic Lodge #122 in Thompson, CT, and an affiliated member of Putnam 46 Lodge in Woodstock, CT. He was a 32nd Degree Mason and a Knight Templar, having been a member of both the Scottish Rite and the York Rite bodies. He was also a Shriner, and was a Past President of the Sphinx Moslem Shrine Club, now known as the Northeast CT Shrine Club. He transferred his membership in the Shriners from CT's Sphinx Temple to Tampa, FL's Egypt Temple. Cliff was a U.S. Navy veteran, a member of Benson-Flugel American Legion Post for over 50 years, and favored the Evangelical Covenant Church of Woodstock, CT. He had been instrumental in the formation of the Woodstock Seniors' Club, and he also contributed considerable time to The Elmvale Cemetery Association. Clifford leaves his wife Beverly (Beverly J. Holmes of Fall River, MA), sons - Jeffrey and his wife Valerie, Douglas and his wife Amy, and Philip, and five grandchildren. Clifford was predeceased by his parents Percival and Norma Stark, his step mother Beulah Merriman Stark, his two sisters Helen and Dorothy, and his youngest of 4 sons Steven. Services are private, at a later date