Remembering Randy Clark

Randy Clark was my friend, teammate and colleague at Northwest University.  When I reflect back on my friend's life I would describe him in the following terms: "He was one of the good guys!"  He was a fantastic athlete, an inspiring teammate, a morally upright man of God, and a faithful friend.  (Someone, who did not know Randy back in the day, might think that I'm overstating my case, but trust me, Randy was all that I have alluded to and more)

I finished my time at Northwest in the spring of 1977 and was traveling and singing in churches immediately after graduation.  The news of Randy's tragic death did not reach me in time to make it to the funeral.  I would have liked to have been there to honor my friend and to participate in sharing of grief with his family.  As a man of faith, I rarely question the actions or the inaction of God, but Randy's death was not an easy thing to understand or come to grips with.  "Yes," I know that he will be in God's Kingdom and I will see him again, but I have missed him and the conversations we would have had through the years.

I played on Northwest's first soccer team. (1974)  We exceeded everyone's expectations and the next September, we were ready to reach higher goals.  Bill Matson and I began to recruit with permission from Coach Kenney.  We first recruited Ken Dobson to be our coach.  Then we turned our attention to "finding" players.  We heard about Dean Clark's son, who had the reputation of being a star athlete in high school.  (He was a great gymnast)  We recruited Randy and he proved to be worth the effort.  He became a dominate force and the center mid-fielder of our soccer team.  He was a natural, both as a player and a leader on the team.  We had a good year!

I decided not to play soccer my Senior year at Northwest.  I was already "doing" a lot of services singing at churches and engaging in ministry off campus.  For that reason I did not see Randy nearly as often, but we remained friends.  I still remember meeting Randy in the parking lot next to the Chapel.  I was heading to the FiRs from LeRoy Johnson's European History Class and Randy was headed down to a couple of classes he had that day.  We stood in the parking lot and began to talk...and talk...and talk.  Four hours later, I restarted my sojourn to the FiRs and Randy climbed into his car...classes over.  To this day I appreciate Randy's life and what his friendship meant to me.  I can not help but wonder what Randy would have accomplished had he lived.  I already know a part of the answer--he would have done many great and wonderful things, because his potential was incredible.  Let me say it again, for the record: "Randy was one of the good guys!"