Charles Edward Clark

Charles Edward Clark died from complications of hip surgery December 20, 2025 at the age of 85.

He was born on May 20, 1940, in Kansas City, Kansas, to Charles E. Clark, Jr., a native of Kansas City, Missouri, and Eloise Livengood Clark, who was born in Peculiar, Missouri. At the time of his death, Charles resided at Lakeview Village in Lenexa, Kansas, having recently moved from Prairie Village. He previously lived in Leawood and Mission, Kansas.

Despite attending thirteen different grade schools across several states, he went from Shawnee Mission High School to Harvard College, where he earned a degree in history, graduating magna cum laude in 1962. He received his Juris Doctor from the University of Michigan Law School in 1965. Following law school, he joined the law firm of Dietrich, Tyler, Davis, Burrell & Dicus.

Charles served as a Captain in the United States Army Reserve, 8th Judge Advocate General’s Corps, from 1967 to 1973. After his military service, he joined the family business, List and Clark Construction Company, initially as of counsel and later as president. During his tenure, he led the transition of the firm from a family-owned business to an employee-owned company.

An Eagle Scout, Charles later served as advancement chairman for Troop 83. He was a member of St. Michael and All Angels Church in Mission, Kansas, where he served on the vestry. He served on the Prairie Village Planning Commission from 2004 to 2014 and on the Prairie Village City Council from 2006 to 2014.

Charles was a patron of the arts and supported numerous cultural institutions, including the Kansas City Symphony, Lyric Opera, Friends of Chamber Music, the Harriman-Jewell Series, and the Kansas City Repertory Theatre.

He was a founding member of the Board of Trustees of the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area and served on the Kansas Historical Foundation's executive committee. A passionate local historian, he was known for his talks on 19th-century Kansas and Missouri history, with a particular interest in the Kansas Bogus Legislature.

Charles married Virginia Menz on August 8, 1964. He is survived by his wife of 61 years, Virginia Clark; his son, Charles Roberts Clark, and daughter-in-law Gretchen Wells Clark, and their daughter, Amelia Clark, all of Lenexa, Kansas; and his daughter, Anne Rogers Clark, and son-in-law Christopher Monks, and their sons, Samuel Charles Monks and Noah Monks, of Arlington, Massachusetts.

Burial will be private. A visitation will be held Saturday, January 10, from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m. at Johnson County Funeral Chapel, 11200 Metcalf Ave., Overland Park, Kans.