Former state Senate President James Clark Jr., a farmer who was the father of Maryland?s programs preserving open space and farmland, died Thursday of the prostate cancer he had been battling for months. He was 87.
Clark, son of a judge, served in the House of Delegates for one term and then was elected as Howard County?s only state senator in 1962, serving in the Senate for 24 years, chairing a number of committees and elected by his colleagues as Senate president from 1979-82.
He was a fiscal conservative and a progressive on social issues, championing open housing laws and civil rights issues in the 1960s.
He was proudest of his role inthe creation of Program Open Space and agricultural land preservation, and won passage of the laws setting aside a portion of real estate transfer tax to help pay for them.
U.S. Sen. Paul Sarbanes called him “a wonderful man. He rendered such distinguished service to the state.”
“It?s a real loss for all of us,” said Howard County Executive Jim Robey, remembering how he “looked for his blessing” when he was considering running for executive. “He?s a legend. He cared more about Howard County than anyone I know.”
His 540-acre farm on Route 108 in Ellicott City is in permanent land preservation, and besides the many different crops and livestock he raised on it. The land is now the home of Clark?s Elioak Farm, a petting zoo run by his daughter, Martha, who lives nearby. Clark?s connection to Howard County was both personal and historic. He was the descendant of one of the three brothers for whom Clarksville is named, and on his mother?s side he was descended from the Ellicott brothers for whom the county seat is named.
Both sets of brothers were attracted to Howard County in the late 1700s by Charles Carroll, a signer of the Declaration of Independence whose country home adjoins Clark?s farm. His passion for history was manifest in a memoir he published 10 years ago called “Jim Clark: Soldier, Farmer, Legislator.” As a glider pilot in World War II, he was among the first American soldiers to see the Nazi death camps, helping to evacuate some of the survivors.
