"Family Hugs!"

Thomas R. Clark

Sandler O'Neill 

I never met Thomas R. Clark.  Nonetheless when I was doing my on-line research in preparation of writing this piece, I came across a piece of information that made me smile.  He was not merely a fan - but a proponent - of the "big hug".  It was how he would great his wife, Lisa, when he would return home to Summit each day from his job at Sandler O'Neill in lower Manhattan.  When his son, Matthew, was born and got old enough to realize what mom/dad's welcome home ritual was, like any good toddler, he asked in on the action.  Soon "Big Hugs!" was replaced by "Family Hugs!" as Mr. Clark's first post-work utterance in the household. 

Thomas Clark was in his office on the 104th floor of the South Tower when United Airlines Flight 175 struck it at 9:03 am on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. He and Lisa were the loving, proud parents of two little ones. Matthew was just two when his daddy died.  Baby Whitney was less than six months old.  Mr. Clark adored his children.  Saturday mornings were dedicated to time he spent with Matthew.  The Clark men would go to Dunkin' Donuts to pick up a nosh and then head over to the Summit Train Station (from which Mr. Clark commuted in/out of New York City five days a week) to watch the trains.  

Lisa and Thomas Clark had celebrated their sixth wedding anniversary less than two months prior to his death.  She was only thirty-five when she was widowed.  Tom Clark died slightly more than three months prior to his thirty-eighth birthday.  

Matthew is now twenty-one.  Whitney is now nineteen. I hope that if and when Tom Clark's children have their own families, the "Family Hugs!" tradition their father started a lifetime ago experiences a renaissance. If it does, I hope it has the chance to run in the households of their adulthood far longer than fate ever permitted it to run in the household of their childhood.  

-AK