By Lloyd Mackey

Clifford and Barbara Clarke

A fixture in Victoria for many years, Clarke has been an actor, impresario, producer, board member and author.

He traces the beginning of his Christian pilgrimage to a summer at Camp Imadene, then located on Maple Bay, east of Duncan. And spiritual renewal came, he says, after the accident in Toronto that took the life of his beloved Barb, in 1998 and left him a paraplegic.

The recounting of his life, so far, and the significant place that his faith has played, appears in Clifford, an independently published book.

 It can be acquired as part of a visit, either to Pine Lodge Farm at Mill Bay, or to the website that emulates much of what he holds dear: pinelodgefarm.com.

A southern Vancouver Island resident all his life, Clarke has been a carpenter, restaurateur, actor, antique dealer and bed-and-breakfast operator.

He and Barb had been looking forward to living out the rest of their dreams at Pine Lodge Farm, a 28-acre site with a stunning view of Saanich Inlet.

There, they had developed a bed-and-breakfast and a number of other business activities that expressed their creativity.

That all changed when, he says, a drunk driver “mowed us down” near the Toronto airport – as they walked from a restaurant where they had met with friends, to the hotel where they were staying.  

When he learned his wife had died in the accident, he was in considerable despair.

But the despair lifted as he started to reconnect with his early Christian underpinnings – and, in the process, experienced what he believed to be a light-giving manifestation of the spirit of Christ.

Clifford tells the many-faceted story of Clifford and Barbara’s life together, from their meeting and marrying as teenagers, and their raising of a family that has stood them in good stead through the years.

It is the faith context that is worth exploring, as a way of pulling together Clarke’s many creative facets.

That story begins in the Fairfield district of Victoria, where a neighbour, a Miss Munday, offered to send Clarke and his brother to Camp Imadene. She was a member of the Munday family of Victoria shoe store fame, a dynasty that also played a role in the development of the precursors to Lambrick Park Church.

As a way of preparing the Clarke boys for summer camp, Miss Munday encouraged them to attend church at Bethesda Gospel Hall (now Oak Bay Gospel Assembly).

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That summer, at camp, in Clifford’s words: “Jack and I both came to know the Lord as our personal Saviour . . . and vowed to spend the rest of our lives serving him.”

While Clifford did not forget his vow, he ceased the formal church-going habit after marriage, although Barb and he encouraged their children to cultivate the faith and the values attached to it.

After the 1998 accident, some family members who had become connected to Central Baptist Church in Victoria contacted Robert Holmes, Central’s former senior pastor.

Clifford Clarke's autobiography.

“Pastor Holmes told me that sometimes it was very difficult to understand the ways of God, and why things like this happened, even to those who believed in him and his son Jesus Christ,” Clarke recalls. “But somehow, if we remained faithful, if we allowed his love and Spirit to enter our hearts, God would heal those wounds, and set us free.

“Though I tried to understand or at least to accept my situation, bitterness crept into my heart, filling it with such pain and grief there was no room left for God.

“Pastor Bob was a wonderful person of faith, though practically crippled himself, and forced to walk with two canes. He visited me often, doing his best to ease my pain and grief and, somehow, ignoring his own pain. He made me feel much better for those visits.”

In time, with the help of Holmes and other Christian friends, the bitterness left – and several things happened.

• At Pine Lodge, Clarke developed Barb’s Garden, a memorial to his beloved – and now, a favourite place for the weddings of young people who have pledged their love, as well.

• He also built Toad Hall, a little theatre – where, among other things, he annually stages original Christmas plays and musicales. This year’s was entitled What Child is This. The theatre allows him to flash back to his experiences as an actor and producer in the Langham Court Theatre and McPherson Playhouse. And the murals depict some of the leading characters in Wind in the Willows – including Mr. Toad, whose part he had played often at Langham Court.

• He accepted the invitation of Ken Smith, the founder of Chemainus Theatre, a faith-based institution, to serve on its board.

• He encourages some of his progeny, who have become active in the leadership of Cobble Hill Baptist Church, by participating appreciatively in the life of the congregation.

Today, Clarke faces another challenge. He has lymphoma.

But, no matter the future, he is accepting the fact that, with God by his side – and the Spirit of Christ lighting the way – he has been able to leave a fulfilling legacy.

January 2008