Clark Gable Burnette
Clark Gable Burnette entered a peaceful rest on December 24, 2024 at the Highland Ridge Rehab Center in Dublin. Mr. Burnette, a resident of Wytheville, Virginia for nearly 20 years, was born on August 6, 1936 to Ida Clark and Luther Martin Burnette, and was raised in Bluefield, West Virginia.
He attended Bluefield State College (now university), and after graduating with a B.S. in building construction, entered the Air Force in 1958, where he served for four years, and then relocated to Washington, D.C.
Upon pursuing additional studies at various universities, he worked as an architectural design draftsman and civil engineer for major projects in the Baltimore/Washington metropolitan area and at overseas sites for the U.S. government, until he retired as a facilities planning engineer at Honeywell International, formerly AlliedSignal Technical Services Corp. in Columbia, Maryland in 1994.
Post retirement, he worked part-time as a project manager for an engineering company and for General Electric Information Services.
Never having married or fathered children, he participated in the Big Brother program for years in Columbia, Maryland where he mentored boys facing adversity in their homes.
And as one who was never without a pet dog, he participated in the Pets on Wheels program, where he often would share his dogs with the residents of nursing homes.
He was a natural orator, often participating in Toastmasters International, and loved talking to anyone who would give him a listening ear at any venue. He also loved helping others, especially family members and neighbors, and could be found working at stores part-time as a greeter and assisting customers in finding items.
He owned and operated a transportation coach and courier service, often taking workers to the coal mines in West Virginia after moving to Wytheville, Virginia to be closer to the birthplace of his mother and father and their kindred in the New River Valley.
He always had a love for learning about and sharing black history and soon after moving to Wytheville, was featured in a two-page spread newspaper article in the “Wytheville Enterprise” regarding his plans to transform his home into a “Black Colored Indian” museum.
He began renovating his home to fulfill this dream, but it all ended when he developed vascular dementia.
He was preceded in death by his parents, and his brothers Harry Lee of New Jersey, Luther Martin, Jr. of Alabama, sisters Louise Ware of Maryland, and Betty Lee, who died in infancy, and leaves to miss him dearly his only surviving, immediate family members: his sister, Ida Reen Burnette of Bluefield, West Virginia, and his niece, Antoinette Martin, and two great nephews, Donald and Johnathan Martin of southwest Virginia, and his best friend, his dog Trap.
A private burial will take place at the SWVA Cemetery in Dublin and a public memorial service will be held on January 5th at 4 pm at the Wytheville Seventh-day Adventist Church. In lieu of cards, flowers, monetary gifts, and other tangible expressions of sympathy, donations can be sent to https://www.amazingfacts.org/donate-online/project/memorial-gift.
