David Joseph Clark

David Joseph Clark was born on December 21, 1959 to John A. "Jack" and Frances Mary (Herrington) Clark. He passed away on June 28, 2025 at Rock County Hospital in Bassett, NE at age 65. He grew up on a ranch south of Long Pine, NE and graduated from Rock County High School with the Class of 1978.

Dave moved to Arlington, VA and worked for Dittmar Construction creating high-rise buildings. He met and married Caron Calvert on November 2, 1985. Born to this union was their daughter, Weslie, on March 17, 1990. His employment required the family to live in several locations, such as Manassas, VA, Charlotte, NC and Spartanburg, SC. He also built a home for his in-laws in Pauline, SC. Around this time, Dave began traveling the world doing missionary work with his church. His construction skills were the perfect fit as the mission work took him to India and Honduras to build homes. After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, Dave's mission work helped rebuild people's homes and lives.

Dave's love of animals was commonly known. While Dave was on the East Coast during the Reagan term of office, he purchased a horse and boarded it at a local equine stable. One day the owner of the stable came to him to ask for his help. It seems the owner was approached by the US Secret Service with a special request. As everyone knew President Reagan loved to ride horses, but his protection staff didn't know how to ride western style. So the owner was asked if they had an instructor that could teach them. The owner smiled and said, "Yeah, I know this young guy from Nebraska that would be great for this". Dave took great pride that he was chosen to teach President Reagan's personal Secret Service detail how to ride horses western style.

In May 2009, he returned to Nebraska and reconnected with Jolyn Dillon. They dated as he continued working construction, building and working on many houses and businesses in the area. He also loved ranching and was right at home sharing that part of Jolyn's life as well. Dave and Jolyn also shared a deep love of horses. So much so, that when Dave proposed, they incorporated the horses into their wedding ceremony on July 4, 2015. Each member of Dave's brood (Standoff, Joker, Missy, Big John, Big Jake, Sundance and Flash) was special, providing carriage and horse rides for all occasions like parades, weddings, and other community celebrations. One of Dave's greatest wishes was to own a stately set of draft horses. He was very happy when he and Jolyn just recently returned from a trip with Sugar and Spice, two beautiful Belguim/Percheron draft horses.

Dave's other love was his family. He recently flew to Spartanburg to spend some time with Weslie and his 3-year old grandson, Harrison. But the highlight was getting to meet his new granddaughter, Harrison's sister, Claire.

Dave was preceded in death by his parents; his in-laws; his brothers, Mike and Tony; and his nephew, Troy. He is survived by his wife, Jolyn of Long Pine, NE; daughter, Weslie (James) Higdon and grandchildren, Harrison and Claire all of Spartanburg; siblings, Patricia (Ron) Dvorak of Bismarck, ND, Ellen (Ken) Ackerman of Omaha, NE, Mary (Rich) Snyder of Spartanburg, and Cathy (Steve) Sybrant of Bassett; sister-in-law, Marty Clark of Bassett; brother-in-law, Justin Dillon of Johnstown, NE; Matt (Catie) Dillon of Bassett; along with numerous nieces, nephews and other family members.

A Graveside Memorial Service was held on Saturday, July 19, 2025 at the Thurman Cemetery near Bassett. Justin Dillon officiated at the event. Memorials were suggested to the family in David’s name for future designation. Hoch Funeral Home assisted with arrangements and online condolences may be left for the family at www.hochfuneralhome.com.