My father in law, E. L. Clark
(1932-2012) was a DOT radio operator. He spent the most of his life
avoiding the use of his first name, preferring to use his
middle, but may have gone by others names (before marriage) we
are unaware of.
The E.L. Clark, to which I refer was
born Elwood Lloyd Clark.
He had two stints in Coppermine NT. The first as best we are aware (as a
novice RO) was shortly after his graduation, 1950, spending 1-2
years on post, before moving on to Embarras AB. He spend the approximate years 52-54
working in Embarras where he met Pete Wellman. If I understood
Pete correctly when I chatted with him, he informed me that E.L.
Clark had left Embarras before the arrival of
Terry Gibson.
Pete himself moved from Embarras in
the late 50s to Fort McMurray (he was married in Fort McMurray
1959) (Pete lost his wife this year, but is still kicking).
E.L. Clark married in 1954, moving
to Red Deer, then to Fort Nelson, then Lac La Biche (all of
which the family has stated were as a RO) before returning in
~1961 to Coppermine (my understanding is he still was an RO, but
was now what I’ll call ’Station Lead’).
He was on station in Coppermine till
~1968 when he left for an accounting/finance position in Ottawa.
It was nice to see the photos of
Embarras, as I have heard many stories of the area.
Thank you
Paul Wagstaff
20 August 2021
Just a few more particulars,
collected from personal records of Elwood Lloyd Clark.
EL Clark was a ‘Radio Operator’ for
‘DOT AERadio’ from APR 1952, moving on to other roles in OCT
1966.
We know that between 1952 and 1957
he was stationed at:
-
“Coppermine, NWT”, his first
station, but not sure exactly how many years, Our stories
confirm he was an R.Op here
-
‘Embarras, AB’, where he met his
wife (m:1954 at Edmonton). Our stories confirm he was an
R.Op here.
-
‘Red Deer, AB’ (child 1955). Not
sure what role he fulfilled here.
We know from DOT documents:
-
From NOV 1957 to FEB 1961 he was
stationed at 'Fort Nelson BC’.
-
From FEB 1961 to MAR 1963 he was
“SR. Operator” stationed at ‘Lac La Biche, AB’
-
From MAR 1963 to SEP 1966 he was
“O.I.C. Radio” stationed back in ‘Coppermine NWT’
-
From OCT 1966 to MAR 1970 he did
his ‘Accounting’ and ‘Management’ training
-
From MAR 1970 onward he
fulfilled his ‘Management/Accountant’ roles for DOT/MOT
until his retirement.
Still have not found any reference
to “Emerson”, but it is highly likely as a literary buff, he
might adopt that as a ‘handle’
Ciao…
Paul Wagstaff
13 February 2022