Walter Clark Former Chairman of the Board for the CTA Has Died

Walter Clark
Walter Clark

Walter Clark Former Chairman of the Board for the CTA Has Died

Walter Clark has died at the age of 90, on November 15, 2018 at St. Joseph Hospital. “It is with deep regret that we inform you of the passing of our beloved husband, father, and family member, Walter Clark.” His passing was announced today by his family. The arrangements for his services are as follows:

Lie in State: Friday, November 30, 2018, from 3:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m., Clark will lie in state at Unity Funeral Parlor,4114 S. Michigan, Ave, Chicago, IL 60653; (773) 624-2703 Funeral Service: Will be conducted Saturday, December 1, 2018. Visitation; 10:00 a.m., Funeral: 11:00 a.m. at the Congregational Church of Park Manor, at 7000 S. King Drive Chicago, IL 60619; (773) 224-4700.

Internment: Immediately Following Funeral Services: Oakwood Cemetery, 1035 East 67th Street, Chicago, IL 60637.

Walter Clark was born June 5, 1928 in Athens, Georgia to John Q. Sr. and Beulah Clark (Hill). Clark was reared in Carbondale, Illinois. He graduated from Southern Illinois University, with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in accounting in 1951 and a MBA in accounting from DePaul University in 1958. In 1971 he was conferred an Advanced Management Program (AMP) degree from Harvard University School of Business. Clark married Juanita Dillard in 1957 and became residents of Chatham community; where they had two children; son, Hilton Pierre, and daughter, Jaunine Charis.

One of the highlights of Clark’s storied and accomplished career was his election in 1986 as Chairman of the Board of the Chicago Transit Authority. He accepted the position following a 30-year tenure with First Federal Savings & Loan/Citicorp, He succeeded the retiring, chairperson, Michael A. Cardilli.

The highly successful banking executive has been cited as, “Embodying the image of the self-made man,” by the History Makers. A Chicago based organization dedicated to recording African American oral histories.

Clark’s innovative and pioneering practices ushered in the first Mortgage-Back Pass, through certificate of sale by a savings and loan at $75 million. In conjunction with Salomon Brothers, investment bankers, Clark issued the City of Chicago, mortgage revenue bonds which were the first of its kind in country. The City of Chicago utilized municipal bonds to fund low and moderate-income families purchase of homes underwritten by First Federal.

This groundbreaking banker’s impact on America’s savings and loan industry has been heralded as giving it, “A spirited nudge—a shove if you will,” according to a 1977 Chicago Sun-Times story. It details his tenure as executive vice president, chief financial officer, of the then 11th largest savings & loan association, First Federal Savings & Loan Assn. He was also characterized as being, “A step or two ahead,” in his career overall while ranking as the highest-level African American S&L official in the nation at that time.

That distinction earn him the confidence of 12 chief financial officers of the nation’s largest savings and loans institutions under the banner of the US Savings & Loan Peer Group; an organization that coordinates the industry’s best practices. They appointed Clark to a four-year term as the chairperson of the Peer Group.

His career portfolio included other appointments with major financial and corporate institutions. At Bear Stearns, he served as vice president in public finance and asset management. In 1989, he participated in the successful effort to secure $150 million bond financing for Comiskey Park, the former home of the Chicago White Sox. In 1979, he was tabbed, by President Jimmy Carter, to Chair the Federal Home Loan Bank Board, in Washington, D.C. He did not accept the position due to family commitments.

Among Clark’s most notable civic involvements was his appointment as Finance Chairman, of the Harold Washington for Mayor Campaign. There he employed a highly successful tactic of relying on small donations from grass root donors, rather than large bundled campaign contributions. It resulted in the campaign garnering, in part, necessary funds to elect Chicago’s first African American Mayor. In 1980, Mayor M. Daley recruited him serve as charter member of the School Finance Authority, for the Chicago Board of Education during a financial crisis at the Board.

Additional involvement in civic and philanthropic activities by Clark included chair of the Mayor’s Link-Development Committee, for the City of Chicago. He Served on the Board of Directors for the College of Business Administration, for the University of Illinois at Champaign and Chicago. He chaired the Investment Committee of the venerable Union League Club of Chicago among numerous other civic engagements.

Clark’s organizational memberships also included Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest Greek-letter college fraternity, founded in 1906; and the Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity, known as the Boulé, the oldest African American non-college Greek-letter fraternity. The Boulé was founded in 1904.

His daughter Jaunine Charis Clark; his brother, John Q. Clark, Jr.; and his parents, John Q. Sr. and Beulah Clark, preceded Walter Clark in death. He is survived by his wife Juanita E. Clark, son, Hilton P. Clark; nephews Jeffrey Clark, Craig Lambert; nieces Bettyna Lambert Virgous, Randi Wilson, and Leslie Wilson.

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