Dr. William Clark: A lifetime of music, a legacy of gratitude

If Las Cruces had the equivalent of Broadway dimming its lights when an esteemed artist dies, every musician in town would play a note at the same moment to honor the life and legacy of William Clark.

Clark, who died July 31 at age 84, had a monumental impact on music at New Mexico State University and throughout the community as a department head, band director, conductor, a teacher and mentor, a musician and lover of music and as a kind and giving friend and colleague, said many who knew him during his nearly 40 years in Las Cruces.

Clark, who was born Dec. 17, 1937, in Hope, Arkansas, came to Las Cruces in 1985 to be director of bands at NMSU, where he served as head of the Music Department for 10 years. Clark helped found Mesilla Valley Concert Band in 1987 and was its long-time director. He started New Horizons Band in Las Cruces in 1997 and was its conductor for more than 20 years. Clark founded the Las Cruces All-City Middle School Honor Band in 1990 and formed the Main Street Band for local home-schooled students.

Clark played the tuba and trumpet in New Horizons Symphony and in brass quintets and practiced the tuba an hour a day.

Among his many honors, Clark was named Las Cruces Citizen of the Year in 1988 and New Mexico Music Educator of the Year in 1992. He was inducted into the New Mexico Music Educator’s Hall of Fame in 2007 and elected to the American Bandmaster’s in 1993. In 2015, Clark received the New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts and was inducted into the Arkansas Music Hall of Fame.

“His legacy is enormous,” said Las Cruces musician Jim Shearer, who was both Clark’s student and his colleague in the NMSU Music Department. “His positive impact on the world of music education will continue to be felt for years to come.

“The lives Bill Clark touched in the world of music number literally in the tens if not hundreds of thousands,” Shearer said. “Beyond his many successful students he taught at both Delta State University and NMSU, Dr. Clark was a guest clinician for junior high and high school band clinics large and small across America for over 50 years. He judged countless band contests, offering help and constructive criticism in ways I’ve only seen a handful of colleagues manage to do over the years.”

“He was both mentor and friend to countless numbers of people and his loss will be deeply felt,” said NMSU Music Department Head Fred Bugbee. “Bill was truly larger than life. He continually elevated the way you felt about yourself and your skills while leading you to important self-discovery. His wisdom was always delivered in Southernisms that rolled off his tongue with an incredible agility.”

“When Bill first arrived in Las Cruces, he immediately came to Lynn Junior High, where I was director of bands,” said John Schutz. “He volunteered to help in any way needed. That day we became fishing, hunting and music buddies for life! We, along with Mike White created what is now Mesilla Valley Concert Band. So many great stories to tell! I’ll miss my close friend!”

Mike White, owner of White’s Music Box in Las Cruces, said some of the teachers he is talking to right now as the new school year begins, tell him they are doing what they do because “’that’s how Dr. Clark showed us how to do it.’

“Nobody’s going to be able to tell me a joke that I don’t think about him,” White said. “He always had a joke and a funny story to tell and a great way to do it.”

White, along with Schutz, was on the NMSU selection committee that recommended Clark’s hiring as the director of bands at the university in 1985. While Clark was traveling back and forth to Mississippi to arrange his move to Las Cruces, White said, he stayed at White’s house.

“We get to keep the memories,” White said.

“I first met Bill when he came to NMSU in 1985,” said Diane Schutz, the long-time choir director at Las Cruces High School. “He was one of my professors while working on my master’s degree. In 1989 I started playing percussion with the Mesilla Valley Concert Band, with Dr Clark conducting. We became fast friends over the next four years. He served as John’s best man at our wedding in 1993. Bill was the most articulate, talented, loving friend anyone could ask for. On one of my last visits with him he thanked me for dressing up for him. What a sense of humor, even in sickness. I’ll miss my friend!”

A memorial service was held for Clark Aug. 6. at University Church of Christ in Las Cruces.

Donations in his honor can be to the William Dempsey Clark Music Endowment. Make checks payable to: NMSU Foundation, Inc., P.O. Box 3590, Las Cruces, New Mexico, 88003. Put “William Dempsey Clark Music Endowment” in the check’s memo line.

Visit www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/25518130/william-clark/las-cruces/new-mexico/getz-funeral-home.