By Francis X. Donnelly
The Detroit News
DETROIT — Growing up in the tiny village of Addison, Kevin Clark struggled with personal demons until meeting his future wife in the late 1990s.
He then found work as an operating room assistant, got a degree in nursing and joined the Army, becoming a highly praised chief nurse.
He was stationed in Afghanistan Monday, talking to his wife on Skype, when he was suddenly killed, said his family. His wife, Susan, the woman who had turned his life around, watched as it happened.
How Capt. Clark, 43, died isn’t known. The family and military didn’t release details.
Susan Clark found something positive amid the sorrow.
“Although the circumstances were unimaginable, (Clark’s) wife and extended family will be forever thankful that he and his wife were together in his last moments,” read a statement by Susan Clark and her family.
After witnessing the attack during one of their regular Skype chats, Susan Clark had hoped for a “miracle,” that somehow her husband had survived, according to the statement. But she later learned he had not.
Two weeks before he died, Clark wrote to a friend, saying he tried to stay upbeat by focusing on what he had in life, not on what he thought he should have.
“Tomorrow may be my last day on earth but I want to have enjoyed every fricking day to the fullest before I go,” he wrote to Tracy Scudder.
He also told Scudder that he thought his deployment in Afghanistan, which had started a month earlier, would get easier.
“From what I understand, it only gets better from here,” he wrote April 16.
In Addison, a speck of a community with 627 residents, the flag at the tiny village hall remained at half-staff Friday. The one-stoplight burg is about 20 miles south of Jackson.
After graduating from Addison High, Clark served on and off with the volunteer fire department for 14 years.
He moved away from Addison a dozen years ago but many residents still remember him.
“He was just a regular guy,” said Brett White, who was the best man at Clark’s wedding.
His buddy could be blunt, said White, but he was a friendly person who loved to tease others.
Clark struggled with personal issues but his life seemed to take on a new purpose after he met Susan while she was a student at Adrian College.
In 2000 the couple moved to Susan’s hometown, the Rochester, N.Y., suburb of Spencerport.
He attended college there and worked four years at a Rochester hospital, first as an operating room assistant and then as an operating room technician.
He wanted to eventually become a certified registered nurse anesthetist.
Friends marveled at his transformation.
“Kevin was a hero long before he became a military man,” said Candi Rae Hallenbeck of Addison. “The determination he has shown his entire life is extraordinary.”
Clark joined the Army in 2006 and was assigned to the William Beaumont Army Medical Center in El Paso. His wife now lives in Texas.
As news of his death spread, a memorial page was created on Facebook that attracted 330 likes within a day.
Many well-wishers, who knew Clark from Michigan, New York, Texas or Afghanistan, frequently mentioned the same thing - his love for his wife and two daughters, ages 3 and 9.
“What I remember most about him is the great love he had for his wife and beautiful little girls,” wrote Maria Orega, who knew Clark as a fellow military nurse.
Juan Torres wrote that he met Clark and his family when the two men were stationed in Texas.
He said Clark was such a good father and husband that he secretly tried to emulate him.
“The first thing I noticed was how much their family truly loved each other,” wrote Torres.
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