First of three children, Christopher Beau Clark was born to Penelope and Steven Clark on April 23, 1978 in Port Byron, Illinois. Beau departed from this life in Kalamazoo, Michigan, at Bronson Methodist Hospital surrounded by friends and family at age 48 on July 16, 2026. Beau learned in early July that he had days to weeks left in this life, due to an advanced case of metastatic cancer.

From Boy Scouts to Bible quizzing to bussing tables to building ductwork, Beau made friends in every environment. Beau was an industrious student who excelled at a young age, completing home school studies in conjunction with higher education, going on to begin studies at Western Michigan University before pursuing other adventures.

Beau met and married Heather, with whom he had two children, in addition to the two wonderful young people that Beau helped raise along with their father and stepmother. Jade, Cole, Lillian, and Julian were the joy and pride of Beau’s heart, his reason for persisting.

Beau excelled in whatever he attempted, spending time impressing customers with his work ethic everywhere from Steak ‘n’ Shake in his teens to his own small business, Clark’s Contracting, which he ran for many years with ever-growing success. Beau was known to be fair, intelligent, dedicated, and kind to all he worked with.

Seeing Beau meant seeing a beaming grin with twinkling eyes beneath the brim of one of his “iconic” hats. In his younger days, Beau was known to be the only person who arrived to work on rollerblades, cutting his way through Kalamazoo at speeds that would have been reckless for anyone but Beau. Skating remained a favorite activity for the rest of Beau’s life. In recent years, Beau, Jade, and Cole all spent many hours with fast friends at Rollerworld in Kalamazoo, where, as of this writing, the marquee reads: “We love you, Beau.”

Always active in the community, Beau was a trained lifeguard in his teens, and many friends and cousins have memories of Beau rescuing them from water that was more perilous than it first looked. His little sister also remembers being thrown in the water more than once, but never minding. They both knew she could swim capably, because he taught her.

Beau is mourned and missed by his children, Jade Clark, Cole Clark, Lily Slack (Walter Pabis), and Julian Slack, parents Steve Clark (Julie Sommers), and Penny Clark, sisters Carrie Clark and Melanie Spencer, niece Aspen Spencer, stepbrothers Kristopher Kratz, Zach Sommers, Tim Sommers, and Casey Sommers, grandmother Glenda Stamper, and many adoring cousins, aunts, uncles, devoted friends, and extended relatives. Beau was preceded in death by his grandparents Leslie and Marilyn (Cross) Johnson, and Robert Truckenmiller.

Memorial service and celebration of life: Friday, August 7, 2026, from 6:00pm-9:00pm, at the Lucky Wolf, 404 E. Michigan Ave., Paw Paw, MI. Please text or call Carrie at 309-798-6232 if you have any accessibility concerns. The venue is working to assist us with a livestream of the memorial service for those who cannot attend in person. When available, a link to the livestream will be posted here. Please reach out to Carrie with any questions. Remarks and readings will begin at 7:30pm, those who wish to participate will be invited to share memories. Light refreshments will be served.

Memorials may be made to the family at https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-for-the-family-of-c-beau-clark.

While visiting Beau’s webpage please sign the guestbook below and/or share a memory with the family.