Lewis Clark Babcock

(Lewis) Clark Babcock

1.14.43-10.26.24

Our lives are not linear, even though we like to break them down into clusters of years, and even decades. In truth, our lives are tapestries woven with different aspects of our lives.

Clark’s tapestry was woven with special places, like his hometown of Pittsburgh and his 15 years in Las Vegas. However, no place was more special to him than Ketchikan, Alaska. He was stationed there while in the Coast Guard, and his experience there has been memorialized in the numerous photographs he shared with the family over the years. Another special place was the Pittsburgh airport, where he often took his kid sister to sit in the lounge or terrace and watch the planes land and take off.

More threads in his tapestry include the numerous bowling leagues he shared with his family, both in Pittsburgh and Las Vegas. He had a love of the sky (see last line), and spent many hours admiring the stars and planets. Naturally, there were interwoven threads of space science fiction, such as the Star Trek series, among others, as well as NASA and the space programs. His enthusiasm for the daytime sky included clouds and thunderstorms.

It is all held together by family. There is a hole in the large tapestry of the Babcock family since Clark left. He is survived by his wife of 33 years, Diane (Ebert) Babcock. His children, Cindy Babcock Schweitzer (Andy Kresl), and Stephanie Babcock Humensky (Dan Joseph) who administered loving care when their father needed attention. Some of those needs included Arby’s milkshakes and hoagies from Danny’s Pizza and Hoagies in Pittsburgh. However, his children remember movie nights, and movie lines became a fixture of their conversations. They took walks throughout Castle Shannon, including “cardiac hill,” as his daughters called it. His grandchildren, Jessica, Leah, Dan, and Jesse will remember all the holidays spent during their youth. He is also survived by numerous nieces and nephews who embraced their Uncle Clark or, “Unc” and will remember the visits he took to see them, and vice versa. In addition, he is survived by his kid sister, CJ. He is predeceased by his parents, Roy and Belva Babcock, his brothers Ron and Perry, and his sisters Virginia and Beth. These are the people who were wide threads in the tapestry as they shaped his early life. Among other things, they instilled in him a love of cards, and family holidays would be spent around card tables. Later, his card-playing took the form of Uno, which he played with his daughters.

You can remember Clark in two ways. First, his daughters would like any donations that his family and friends may wish to give be made, in his name, to Ketchikan Medical Center Foundation (peacehealth.org, and follow links). Second, he chose the constellation of Cassiopeia as “his.” It’s a big “W” in the northern nighttime sky. You can wave to it, and say “Hi, Clark!”

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Lewis Clark Babcock, please visit our floral store.