Salem – Prominent Salem attorney Edward L. Clark, Jr. a past president of the Oregon State Bar, died Oct. 30 after a struggle with Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s. He was 86. Known as Ned by all, he practiced law in Salem from 1953 to 1995 with the firm Clark Marsh & Lindauer.

Ned had a quiet toughness that was mediated by integrity, intelligence and compassion. He loved the law and heartily believed in legal rights for all, but particularly for the disadvantaged.

He served as president of the Oregon State Bar in 1984-1985, after serving two years on its Board of Governors and in 1995 received the State Bar’s Award of Merit. In his term as Bar president, he reached out to lawyers who encountered personal problems to encourage them to put their lives back together.

He was proud to be selected as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, an honorary legal society, and in 2002 was named Trial Lawyer of the Year in Oregon. He was a long-time supporter of the Marion-Polk Legal Aid Service and had served on its board of directors. He also served on the board of directors of Portland General Electric Co. in the 1990s.

In the public arena, he served as an aide in Washington, D.C., to U.S. Sen. Wayne Morse in the late 1940s. He was appointed in the 1960s to the Marion-Polk Boundary Commission by Gov. Tom McCall and served as chairman. He later served as legal counsel to the Salem-Keizer Transit District and the Statesman-Journal newspaper in Salem. He also successfully sued the Salem-Keizer School District in 1968 over what a judge ruled were arbitrary changes in high school boundaries.

Ned and Pat also were active in Trinity Methodist church from its earliest days, joining in 1955. After his retirement, they both were involved with the Lord’s Cupboard food bank at the church. Earlier he had served on the board of the Methodist Home in Salem. Ned and Pat traveled extensively and became annual visitors to Mexico, exploring different parts of that nation.

Ned Clark was born in Portland on Sept. 9, 1923, the son of Ferne and Edward L. Clark Sr., who served as president of the former Multnomah College. He was preceded in death by his sister, Betty Fry, and brother Charles Clark. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Occidental College in Los Angeles, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. His studies were interrupted by World War II and service in the Marine Corps. He earned his law degree from the University of Oregon and was called back to the Marines during the Korean War to work as a lawyer.

Mr. Clark is survived by his wife of 56 years, Pat, and five sons, Christopher of Aumsville, Craig of Stayton, Michael of Oakland, Calif., Daniel of Winslow, Maine, and Timothy of Portola Valley, Calif., and their wives. He also is survived by 10 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. His first wife, the former Barbara Cutler, died in 1951.

In lieu of flowers, the family invites donations in Ned’s memory to the Willamette Valley Hospice, the Trinity Church’s Lord’s Cupboard, or the charity of ones’ choice.

Memorial Services will be at 11:00 am Saturday Nov. 7^th at Trinity United Methodist Church 590 Elma Ave SE.   Arrangements are by Virgil T. Golden Funeral Service.