When I opened the newspaper today, I was stunned to find the obituary for C. Robert Clarke, who died April 5, 2020, surrounded by his family.

Chances are, most of our church music friends and colleagues won’t have heard of or known this kind and generous man, but he was a very important person and friend to our family. In 1977, when Carl Crosier and I were planning our wedding, we were caught unaware that exactly one week before, he would be fired from his “real” job, as an accountant for a local insurance firm. We therefore had to go through all the motions of the wedding ceremony, and five weeks of a blissful honeymoon, with no income and only a small savings account to live on. We didn’t dare tell our families, especially mine (!) particularly because Carl only met my parents on the day of the wedding rehearsal, and we dared not let on that neither of us had a job.

So in the late summer of 1977, an employment ad in the newspaper caught our eye. It was a position for the Controller of House of Music, *THE* local music store located at Ala Moana Center, Honolulu, which sold sheet music, records and instruments, in addition to providing music lessons and even sound booths where you could listen to a record before buying it. The store was originally begun in 1949 by John Murphy in Waikiki, expanded to three stores, the largest of which moved to Ala Moana Center in 1962, where it was purchased by Bob Clarke in 1977.

Apparently there were 26 applicants for the position, and later Bob told us that the reason that Carl got the job was that he had a double degree: one in accounting and the other in music. We all agreed it was the perfect job for him, which he held until 1983 when Carl became the Controller and Business Manager for St. Andrew’s Priory.

Here’s what I wrote in a previous post:

I was looking all over the internet for the old House of Music logo, but couldn’t find it, so I’ll show you the Christmas ornament I made in 1977 to celebrate Carl’s then-new job with them. Out of 26 applicants, Carl was chosen because he had the unique combination of a degree in accounting and a degree in music.

The House of Music was sold by Bob Clarke in the 90s to J.R.’s Music Shops, and in its heyday, there were 18 stores, including two on Guam, but they kept the House of Music name because of its long history here. After that there were a succession of owners until 2001 when a retail music store became an anachronism in an age of downloadable music, and the House of Music closed forever.

On several occasions, I was asked to help out in the office and one time was particularly memorable to me. The company was doing a record promotion party and I helped with stuffing and addressing envelopes. What I remember was that Bob was right there alongside us, licking stamps and putting them on the envelopes. Even though he was the CEO, he was not above helping us with the “donkey work!”

After Carl left House of Music in 1983 to become the Controller and Business Manager of St. Andrew’s Priory, I continued to help Bob with his Lehua and Mahalo record labels, at a time when CDs started replacing long-playing records. I would scan the original 12″ LP, convert the graphics and re-type liner texts to fit the much smaller CD format. In some cases, I even designed the graphics for new recordings. In all, I created over 30 CD projects, which included the cover, tray card, program booklet, and CD label for each artist.

Here are a few samples of my work, which I have stored on my computer all these years.

When the Clarkes moved to California, after Bob sold House of Music, we maintained our friendship with them, visiting them in their home in California, and having dinner with them whenever they visited Hawaii. For several years, Carl even continued to pick up their mail once a week from their Honolulu post office box.

When Carl died in 2014, the Clarkes sent a beautiful flower bouquet which we took to the graveside.

The Clarkes were parishioners of Waiokeola Congregational Church in Kahala when they lived in Honolulu—you may remember that before this coronavirus pandemic, I served as their guest organist over the previous seven months.

Rest in peace, dear Bob.