Dan Clark, 85, died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Isanti on Jan. 30, 2005.

He has rejoined his beloved wife Ruby who was called by our Lord almost exactly six years ago.

Dan was born on June 29, 1919 in Burns Township, Anoka County in the same small farmhouse where his father was born and raised. His father was Thomas Alonzo Clark and his mother was Melva Ricks Clark from Cache Valley, Utah and later from Teton County, Idaho. Dan was born third out of a total of five children who survived beyond infancy.

He graduated from St. Francis High School where he met his future wife. Ruby Lunsten came to St. Francis from Princeton as a 14-year-old sophomore and Dan was a sophisticated 16-year-old junior. He has told many people over the years, ìThe first time I saw her, I knew she was the one for me.î Dan was twenty-one years old when he married Ruby in 1940 and in less than four years, they brought three healthy sons into the world. Then Uncle Sam asked Dan to help the Allies win World War II.

Dan joined the Navy and served on a destroyer in the South Pacific. His ship saw lots of action in a few short months including the Iwo Jima, Okinawa and Japanese Mainland campaigns and the rescue of hundreds of survivors from the carrier Franklin. Dan was very proud to have served his country.

After his safe return in late 1945, he took over the Claus Carlson farm near St. Francis on a 50-50 share basis. Dan and Ruby took care of a large dairy herd, 200 hogs, and 700 laying hens. After a couple of years, they were able to buy their own place ñ a 100-acre diary farm southeast of Isanti where they lived and labored for about forty-six years. It was a very primitive place even for 1947 ñ no running water ñ no electricity ñ no central heat ñ skunks living in the crawl space. But through the sweat of his brow and ingenuity of his mind, it was only a few years until he had everything modernized. To pay the extra bills, he took a full time, second-shift job at the Twins Cities Arsenal and worked eighteen hours a day for several years. In the early sixties his barn burned down and he discovered that he could make a living by raising cash crops and his life changed ñ no more twice-a-day dates with the dairy cows. He bought some land in his favorite part of the world (Teton Valley, Idaho) and built a small home there in 1981. And a couple years later, he bought a trailer home in St. George, UT. So Dan and Ruby had a working farm in Isanti, a summer home in Idaho and a winter home in Utah.

In 1993 at age 72, Dan decided he had been a farmer long enough. He sold most of the Isanti farm and he and Ruby split their time between Idaho and Utah until Rubyís death in early 1999. Since then, Dan has lived in Isanti and kept busy by building beautiful lawn chairs, bunk beds, and bookcases for relatives and friends. He has also been very active in the LDS church for over thirty years.

He was preceded in death by his wife of fifty-nine years, Ruby, his brothers, Leo and Arnold (Buzz), and his sister, Clara. He is survived by his sister, Marion of Payson, Utah, his sons Bruce of Eagan, Minn., Ron (Mary) of Johnstown Colo., and Dave (Rita) of Isanti, along with nine grandchildren and ten great-grandchildren.

Funeral services were held on Monday, Feb. 7, at the Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints in North Branch with Bishop Mark Call officiating. The vocalists were Joni Call and Laretta Spitzzenberger. Carol Norling served as organist. The pallbearers were Brady, Christopher and Steve Clark, Eric and Scott Johnson and Scott Knudson. Interment was in West Oak Grove Cemetery with the St. Francis American Legion providing the Color Guard. The bagpiper was John Hughes.

Arrangements were entrusted to the care of the Strike Funeral Home - Isanti Chapel.

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