Memorial for Hawthorne Activist Clark
A memorial service was to be held Wednesday for community activist and former Hawthorne city commissioner William B. Clark, who committed suicide last week.
Police said Clark, 46, shot himself Saturday on the front lawn of his parents’ home in the 4600 block of Broadway Avenue. He died a short time later at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.
Clark, a decorated Vietnam War veteran and former Navy SEAL, had been active in city politics for years and was one of the founding members of the city’s Graffiti and Gang Abatement Committee, said city spokesman Tom Quintana. Clark left that committee this summer to devote time to veterans’ organizations, Quintana said.
Clark’s father, Edward, said his son had been depressed and was under a doctor’s care.
“The city has lost a great soldier,” said Mayor Larry Guidi. “He was hard-working, loyal and nothing was impossible for him.”
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