Beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother and son, Lavelle Clark passed quietly on Monday afternoon, March 27, 2023 surrounded in a beautiful family circle of his wife Audrey Sampson Clark and his 8 children, who all survive him: Carmell Clark, Brett (Kim) Clark, Ryan (Ronica) Clark, Melissa (Doug) Stoker, Wendy (Adam) Bowers, Annalyn Sheffield, Rosalie (Ken) Peterson, Sarah (Adam) Howard. He is also survived by sisters Hazel Wilson, Margaret Murphy, Liz Stephenson, and brother Stuart Clark. He is preceded in death by his also beloved parents Lowell & Avalon Ranquist Clark, sister Adina Bolt and brother Bob Clark.

He was born in Ogden Utah on February 17, 1943. His mother gave birth while his father was deployed to the Philippines during WWII, and grew up in Utah, Idaho and Washington. He attended BYU and graduated with an M.S. in Chemistry and an MBA.

He served his country in the Army National Guard Special Forces, achieving the prestigious distinction of paratrooper in the Green Berets. He was very proud of this intensely difficult achievement. He and his regiment were featured extras in the John Wayne movie The Green Berets!

Lavelle was a faithful lifelong member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and served the Lord and those in his community with devotion. At 21, he served a church mission to northern Germany.

Lavelle met Audrey Sampson at BYU and married May 31,1968, and a great love began that would last 55 years of marriage, eight children, 25 grandchildren.

After his MBA, he was recruited by Battelle N.W. Laboratories here in Richland and their young family moved from Provo Utah to Richland to begin a new life. Hired as a Junior Research Scientist, it was a proud day when he was promoted to Senior Research Scientist, working on different projects such as the safe methods of storing low level nuclear waste.

He had a brilliant intellect, an excellent sense of humor, and was amazingly patient, deliberate, and hard-working in his life. People who know him always comment on his kind and generous heart. He never held a grudge and forgave immediately. He noticed those who were quieter. He was an avid reader all his life and loved The Lord of the Rings, Agatha Christie, and Alistair MacLean, rereading them so many times that he wore them out and had to lovingly repair the book bindings. He gave his children his great love of the Perry Mason TV series as well.

Our dad built a house from a book. Literally. He and Audrey decided that instead of moving the growing family to a larger home, they would remodel and add on to their existing home. Lavelle learned many different aspects of the building process by helping many family friends build their house additions. He read books and taught himself everything from pouring the concrete foundations, to framing, to electrical and plumbing, to drywall, finish carpentry, brick-laying the fireplace, carpet-laying, tilework and installing stairs, bathrooms, etc. He built a scale model of the entire house addition before he ever broke ground on the real thing. The project took 7 years to complete–he had the skill and talent to undertake huge endeavors and see them through to completion.

He loved to play. As a young father, his pillow fights were infamous. He read Lord of the Rings to his children, took them camping and fishing, and sang and strummed Johnny Cash's Ghost Riders in the Sky at bedtime with his guitar. Later on, Lavelle loved to take his younger daughters on lots of trips including to Leavenworth, Hawaii and other places. He was incredibly proud of all his children's accomplishments.

Lavelle delighted in his grandchildren, loving to read to them, play with them and talk with them about their lives. He burst with pride over all their amazing unique personalities and accomplishments. They are all his legacy.

We invite you to celebrate our beloved husband and father at his viewing & funeral:

4-7pm Monday, April 3, 2023 at Hillcrest Funeral Home

9353 W. Clearwater Ave. Kennewick WA.

Funeral will be 11:00am Tuesday, April 4, 2023 at the LDS Church 1720 Thayer Drive, Richland. Viewing at the church prior to the service from 10-10:45am.

The funeral will be available via zoom at: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81802994753?pwd=eThScVhvenBFSW1LWFNwNkxySHVKQT09

In lieu of flowers, Audrey and the family ask that donations be made to:

Chaplaincy Hospice 1480 Fowler St. Richland WA 99352

Online at: Chaplaincyhealthcare.org

LDS Church Missionary Fund

To express your condolences please visit his tribute wall.