Byron James Clark

Private graveside services for Byron James “Jim” Clark, 85, Lawrence, were Saturday at Memorial Park Cemetery in Lawrence. A U.S. Army Honor Guard from Fort Leavenworth conducted military honors.Mr. Clark died Wednesday, March 8, 2006, at Pioneer Ridge Retirement Community in Lawrence.He was born April 29, 1920, in Des Moines, Iowa, the son of Paul V. and Anna Pettit Clark. He had lived in Lawrence since 1955.Mr. Clark served in the U.S. Army during World War II and was involved in the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, the siege of Metz and the liberation of Czechoslovakia. As a captain, he earned a Purple Heart, a Bronze Star, a Gold Star and a Silver Star. A street is named in his honor in the city of Periers, France. He also served during the Korean War until 1953.He graduated from Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, and later attended Rockhurst College and the University of Kansas City Law School in Kansas City, Mo.Mr. Clark was a longtime automobile dealer in Lawrence. He founded Jim Clark Motors in 1955 when he bought Ransdell Motors and Buddy Gallagher Motors. He also owned dealerships in Topeka, the Kansas City area, Salina and St. Joseph, Mo. He retired in 1992.He was a member of the Central United Methodist Church; a past president of the Kansas Motor Car Dealers Assn.; convention director of the National Automobile Dealers Assn.; a charter member and past president of the Lawrence Cosmopolitan Club; and president of the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. He was also a member of the Lawrence Kiwanis Club, Dorsey Liberty VFW Post No. 14, the Masonic Lodge and served on the Board of Directors of First National Bank of Lawrence.He married Sara Curts on June 14, 1941, in Kansas City, Mo. She died Nov. 15, 1973.Survivors include a son, Jim, Chapman; two daughters, Sally Johnson, Lawrence, Judy Walburn, Lawrence; a brother, Paul, Topeka; 12 grandchildren; and 15 great-grandchildren.A great-granddaughter died earlier.The family suggests memorials to the Alzheimer’s and Related Disorders Foundation, sent in care of Warren-McElwain Mortuary in Lawrence.E-mail condolences may be sent to info@warrenmcelwain.com, subject: Clark.