Francis "Butch" Clark

Francis “Butch” Joseph Clark, age 84, of Laclede, passed away, Thursday, October 12, 2023, at his home surrounded by his family. 

Funeral services will be Wednesday, October 18, 2023, at 11:00 a.m. at the Immaculate Conception Church in Brookfield with Sister Mary Rost officiating. Burial will be at the Jacksonville Veterans Cemetery in Jacksonville, Missouri. The family will receive friends, Wednesday, from 10:00 a.m. until the time of the service at the church.

In place of flowers, please donate to Linn County 4-H Shooting Sports or Linn County FFA Shooting Sports in memory of Francis “Butch” Clark. Memorials may be left at or mailed to Wright Funeral Home, PO Box 496, Brookfield, MO 64628.

Francis Joseph, son of James S. and Alice Hilda (McLaughlin) Clark, was born January 27, 1939, in Whitley County, Indiana. On February 20, 1965, he married his high school sweetheart, Barbara Williams, who survives of the home.  This past February, they celebrated 58 years of marriage. 

In 1972, Butch and Barbara moved to Missouri from Indiana to raise their family. Butch owned and operated his own farm for all his life. Private First-Class Francis Clark served honorably from Jan 2nd, 1962, to December 31st, 1967, in the United States Army. He provided support as a field communications expert in Germany on the Berlin Wall. He was awarded the good conduct medal and expert marksmanship badge for the M1 rifle. He was a member of the VFW in Brookfield and the American Legion.

Butch wanted to be outside all the time. He enjoyed fishing, hunting, and most of all spending time with his friends and family. He was an avid gardener and loved to share the wealth of his crops. You could find him on the lawnmower hauling his jugs to water up until the end of this summer. Butch enjoyed the company of his grand daughters and constantly bragged about how proud he was of them. Later in life when he was blessed with great grandchildren, he was able to share that love and compassion with them. Butch was an innovator at heart and able to “rig” scrap pieces together to make practical solutions to use outside. He was constantly repurposing items such as ice cream buckets and feed sacks which made the grandkids laugh when he would show up with his luggage inside. Butch also enjoyed playing card games and taught all his grandkids how to play. Every celebration involved his family tradition of a homemade red velvet cake which continues across the family today. Sometimes included in those celebrations were a red beer with his homemade “hot” tomato juice. Overall, Butch was an amazing dad, grandpa, and great grandpa who will be greatly missed by his family especially his little “pills” (grandkids). 

Survivors include his two children, Steven J. Clark, of Laclede, and Susan Clark-Butterfield, and husband, Ryan of Laclede; grandchildren, Katie Miller, and husband, Brad of Laclede, Jenny Butterfield-Carter (the favorite), and husband, Michael of Carrolton, Courtney Clark-Kirby, and husband, Josh of Fayette, Emily Clark-Bardot, and husband, Nathaniel of Union and Abbie Clark, of Nashville, Tennessee; great-grandchildren, Kailynn, Jenna, Fallon, Eleena, Nora, Violet, Liam, Morrigan, Hattie and Milo; several nieces and nephews.  

He was preceded in death by his parents; two sisters, Mary Agnes Johnson and Margaret Nusbaum; two brothers, James Robert and Ralph T. Clark.  

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Francis "Butch" Clark, please visit our floral store.