Lasting Memories

Thomas S Clark
March 23, 1932-Feb. 20, 2026
Palo Alto, California

Tom Clark died peacefully at his home, surrounded by his family, on February 20, 2026. He was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and grew up in nearby Wauwatosa. As a teenager, he earned his Eagle badge in the Boy Scouts and spent many weekends biking to the nearby airport where he learned to fly. He graduated from Purdue University with a major in Aerospace Engineering. Having joined the AF ROTC in college, he was sent to Sembach Air Base in Germany where he flew with the Air-Sea Rescue Service. Returning to the U.S. after four years, Tom moved to California when he was hired by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company as a senior research engineer responsible for tests on Polaris flight vehicles. He subsequently joined United Technologies Corporation as the principal project engineer on the thrust vector control project of the Titan III-C program. He liked to tell how he was the sole passenger on a commercial airplane as he carried the part to Cape Canaveral for installation on the missile.

In 1972, Tom, a friend and two tennis coaches started the company Amten to produce a tennis ball tossing machine. The machines were installed at a number of tennis facilities including the John Gardner Tennis Ranches. Amten later branched out to machine parts for such companies as Hewlett-Packard and Applied Materials.

Tom always loved the chance to go flying but also took up sailing, racing his Mercury class sailboat in the San Francisco Bay. Later, summer vacations always included a trip to the family cabin at Fallen Leaf Lake. When he retired, he spent time driving his 1962 Ford-100 to pick up books for FOPAL and also volunteered at Gamble Garden special events.

Tom is survived by his wife of almost 50 years, Sarah, and their two sons, David (Jennifer) and Andew (Linden) as well as three children by his former marriage: Dana, Tom (Laura) and John (Eveline). He also leaves several grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his son Charles (Chris).

Those who wish to honor him can donate to POST (www.openspacetrust.org).