7
PERSPECTIVE
No matter how many years a student
attends St. Paul’s, the School leaves a set
of Technicolor memories based on the
experiences shared with the rich and
diverse community. Those students who
had the good fortune of attending dur-
ing the years of Kelly Clark’s Rectorship
witnessed no greater expressions of the
best aspects of community than in the
man himself.
A first glimpse at the tall, slender, hand-
some – inspiring – figure of Kelly Clark
was surpassed only by the words he spoke
and the gentle kindness of his delivery.
He loved the School, the members of its
community, and God.
A graceful and gracious leader, Mr.
Clark and his wife, Priscilla, opened
their home nearly every Saturday night
to SPS students, providing hot cocoa,
the ever-popular poppy seed cake, and,
most importantly, a welcoming environ-
ment filled with the treasures of their
shared life. From an eclectic collection of
small toy soldiers to colorful shells from
the Clarks’ travels around the world to
remnants of Mr. Clark’s boyhood home
in Coronado, California, the first floor
of the Rectory was the cornerstone of
Saturday-night activities and the beating
heart of the campus during Mr. Clark’s
tenure. His remarkable ability to recall
every community member’s name made
those speaking with Mr. Clark sense his
divine grace and care.
As I completed my years in Millville, I
had multiple pleasant encounters with Mr.
Clark along the many School through-
ways and in the familiar confines of the
Gothic buildings of St. Paul’s – even a
few meetings in his office (fortunately
never for a disciplinary
reason). In each case,
his melodious voice
always evoked a truly
special warmth. While
I’m not sure any of
us can claim to have
ever met a saint, a
conversation with
Mr. Clark has always
made me wonder.
Mr. Clark was
never a stern leader;
rather he set an ex-
ample of a complete
life embodying the
ideals of St. Paul’s School and that of an
engaged mind, body, and spirit. While en-
trusted as the academic, administrative,
and spiritual leader during his decade as
Rector (1982-1992), through his words,
students learned of the “goodly heritage”
they had inherited and felt a reassuring
sense of stability that characterized the
era of his leadership.
The legacy of Kelly Clark could be
easily defined by all the measurable good
that came under his charge: Applications
grew along with selectivity standards
for admission; financial strength took
physical shape with construction of
Ohrstrom Library and the Lenore and
Walter Hawley Observatory, renovations
to the Schoolhouse, the Upper, the Chapel
of St. Peter and St. Paul, the Payson Science
Center, and Warren House, and restor-
ation of the Chapel of St. Paul. Under
Mr. Clark’s guidance, the “Old Chapel”
became the site of voluntary services of
Sunday Eucharist and nightly vespers
and a home to the reprinted version
of the little red
Chapel Services &
Prayers
books found in every seat of
both Chapels.
But to measure the impact of Kelly
Clark on St. Paul’s School by physical
enhancements to the campus would be
an injustice to his legacy. His is most
predominantly a legacy of 10 years of
peace, tranquility, and happiness in the
SPS community. I am proud to have
helped in a project (
Our Goodly Heri-
tage, 2016
) to assemble the best of his
writings and sermons from that period
of his life, many of which I heard first-
hand as a student at St. Paul’s.
Nearly every morning in those forma-
tive years, we started our days in Chapel
by listening to Mr. Clark’s calm, clear
voice lead us in prayer or in song or tell
us a story in his distinct cadence that
made us optimistic for the day and, be-
yond that, the future. All those years ago,
there was no better way to start a day.
More than two decades later, I still haven’t
found one.
Still Appreciating
Ninth Rector
Kelly Clark
by Jason P. Andris ’92
