Walton Dwight Clarke 1909-2003
"The Milton Courier", Milton Wisconsin, Thursday Jan. 8, 2004, p 5.
Walton Dwight Clarke, 94, of Claremont, Calif., died Dec. 31, 2003.
He was born Oct. 16, 1909, in Milton, the only child of Judson Dwight and Beatrice (Lowther) Clarke. He graduated from Milton College in 1932 and received a master of arts degree at the University of Wisconsin in 1935. From 1935 to 1940 he taught at the high school in Kewaunee. After one year on the faculty of Central College, Pella, IA, he was appointed instructor in speech and drama at Drury College, Springfield, MO. In 1941 he and his wife were appointed Head Residents of the Men's dormitory. Two years later, when the dormitory became an Army Air Force barracks, he took a part-time position at a local radio station. When the college president refused to permit him to work off campus and the station offered him a full-time job, he made a career change into the field of commercial broadcasting.
During the next three years, Walton Clarke became the most listened-to newscaster in an area that included parts of four states, Missouri, Arkansas, Oklahoma and Kansas. In 1946 he reentered the academic field by joining the faculty of the School of Speech at Kent State University where he began an academic program to prepare students for careers in broadcasting. In 1950 he put an FM station on the air for Kent State University that today is one of the most highly respected National Public Radio stations in the nation. He retired in 1975 with the rank of Emeritus Professor. He and his wife moved to Claremont, Calif., in order to be near their two daughters. In 1989 he was inducted into the Broadcasters Hall of Fame in Akron, Ohio and in 2000 at the 50th anniversary of WKSU, he received the President's Medal from Kent State University.
In 1978 his wife died of cancer and two years later he married Margaret "Peggy" Woodard of Claremont. During the next 15 years they became involved in several volunteer activities and traveled extensively. He became involved in Vital English, the University Club of Claremont, where he served as president in 1983. He and Peggy assisted Meals on Wheels and the Community Friends of International Students. He served as Treasurer of that group for many years.
Clarke is survived by his wife Margaret (Peggy), his daughters, Barbara Durian of Claremont and Martha Williams of Orange, Calif.; three grandsons: Mark Durian of Clarksburg, W.V.; Brad Durian of Covina, Calif.; and Matthew Durian of Riverside; three step-daughters, Arlene Whyte of Eugene, Ore.; Alice Karl of Chicago, Ill. and Anne Ezal of Bakersfield, CA.
Todd Memorial Chapel of Pomona handled the arrangements, Clarke will be buried in Milton. A memorial service will be held Jan. 23, 2004 at 3 p.m. at the United Church of Christ Congregational in Claremont, Calif. Memorials may be made to the Kent State Foundation for the Walton D. Clarke Fellowship, Kent, Ohio.