Giles Robertson Clark

Giles Robertson Clark of Elizabethtown, North Carolina, died July 4, 2026, aged 96. He was hospitalized for complications of cancer in Wilmington, NC, where his loved ones attended to him during his final days.

Born December 5, 1929, in Elizabethtown, Mr. Clark arrived in a nation with 48 states at the headwaters of the Great Depression. World War I was only a decade in the past, World War II a decade to the future, and America had recently celebrated its 150th birthday in 1926. Dying on the country’s 250th anniversary, Giles experienced and participated in nearly 40 percent of American life and history. He left his mark as a man who loved the Lord God, his family, the law, aviation and the UNC Tar Heels.

The second of four sons born to H. Manly Clark and Mary Robertson Clark, Giles arrived shortly before his father was elected sheriff of Bladen County, an office he would hold for 14 years. The position allowed young Giles to see law enforcement and justice in action. He later wrote, “I was privileged to sit on the floor of the crowded courtroom in front of the jury box and observe the proceedings. I became enamored with the attorneys and the judges, their eloquence, knowledge and advocacy as well as the respect and admiration given them.”

Sheriff Clark was a World War I veteran who valued providing public service as a lawman, but he also possessed the heart of a talented and restless entrepreneur. Before and after Giles’ birth, “Mr. Manly” and associates founded numerous successes, many connected to farming and agriculture, and others supplying the petroleum products and automobiles demanded by a rapidly growing transportation sector.

Fondly remembered by Giles and his brothers, their mother, Mary Robertson of Rowland, NC, trained as a nurse during World War I, taught school, and came to Elizabethtown as a home demonstration agent, bringing current home economic techniques and equipment to rural areas. After she married, the raising of four boys, involvement in church, PTA and community, along with required gardening and canning, coalesced into full-time pursuits for Mrs. Clark.

Giles graduated Elizabethtown High School and East Carolina College, where he majored in Social Studies and English. He volunteered for the Army and became part of the Counter Intelligence Corps, serving during the Korean War. After discharge, he enrolled in the University of North Carolina School of Law. Of his time at Chapel Hill, he rated his zealous support of the undefeated 1957 National Champion Tar Heel basketball team as an achievement almost equal to obtaining his law degree in 1958.

Mr. Clark’s law practice began with three years on the staff of the state attorney general. Based in Raleigh, NC, he’d appear before the Industrial Commission and in courtrooms across North Carolina defending claims against the state. He then realized a long-held goal of practicing law in his hometown, which he did for seven years. “This was a typical country lawyer practice where you just took whatever case walked in the door—real estate, criminal and civil trials, contracts and domestic relations were matters of primary concern, but other intriguing cases, claims and personalities were frequently encountered,” he’s explained, saying that private practice was a crucially educational and enjoyable time of his life.

Years of interacting with judges and studying opinions of the judiciary led Mr. Clark to want to be a part of it. “Witnessing the character, ability and integrity of those serving in the Superior Court and those on the appellate bench was inspiring to me,” he’s written. His judicial journey began by accepting an appointment to Bladen County Recorders Court in 1966. Two years later, he won election to the district court, a position he would hold until early 1975 when he was chosen to fill a vacancy as Resident Superior Court Judge for North Carolina’s 13th Judicial District. Standing for elections, he held the seat for 18 years until retirement in 1993.

Judge Clark served with distinction throughout his legal career, receiving several professional recognitions. He regularly topped surveys of attorneys and courthouse personnel that rated judges on ability, integrity and impartiality. He was known as tough but fair and typically seasoned the proceedings with his characteristic quick wit and good humor.

From the bench, Judge Giles witnessed a parade of the human condition. Seeing people at their best and worst, he absorbed testimony and evidence spanning from inspirational to horrifying. He learned that truths revealed in a courtroom—of good and ill—can take up residence in a jurist’s mind and soul for the rest of their days. Dedicated to his sworn oath of justice without favoritism, Giles approached the job with humility and care, aware of the solemn responsibility of making court decisions that often carried great impact on many lives.

Mr. Clark was blessed with two loves of his life.

He first met Dottie Ann Matthews, the daughter of Nash County tobacco farmers, on campus at East Carolina. There was mutual interest, but romance didn’t spark until later meetings in Washington, D.C., with Giles in the Army and Dottie at the Pentagon. Married in D.C. in 1958, they soon moved to Raleigh, as Giles worked for the state attorney general and Dottie in the governor’s office. By 1961, they were in Elizabethtown, starting a family that would grow to two sons and a daughter, with Giles’ legal career developing and Dottie managing the household and pursuing interests in interior design, landscaping and oil painting. A loving marriage of 30 years ended with Dottie’s death in 1989.

Fascinated by aviation since childhood, Mr. Clark held ownership in private aircraft most of his adult life. While flying in 1990, he heard an uncharacteristically casual question over the flight radio frequency: “Hey Judge, how are you doing?” It was the voice of Rachel Peterson Keziah, a school administrator and private pilot living in Wilmington. Mutual friends decided the two should meet and planned the “radio rendezvous.” Within two years, Giles and Rachel were married.

During the next 34 years, most of them in their retirement, the couple enjoyed skybound adventures, including a round-trip transcontinental journey from North Carolina to Fairbanks, Alaska, flying in an aircraft built by Mr. Clark and friends. Giles and Rachel were enthusiastic members of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) and participated in the organization’s Young Eagles program, introducing airplanes and flight to youth. Several summers were highlighted by flying to Oshkosh, Wisconsin, for the EAA’s week-long signature airshow.

Judge Clark was retired for nearly as long as he labored, though after formal retirement in 1993, he eased out by occasionally serving as an emergency and retired/recall judge until 2007. He also found purpose helping others settle differences through arbitration and mediation, assisting the conflicting parties and removing many cases from overloaded court dockets.

In retirement, Mr. Clark gained freedom for deeper engagement with the businesses started or inspired by his father and developed by his three brothers, Manly, David and Rogers. While a judge, conflict-of-interest and time constraints limited Mr. Clark’s contributions to the entities he held stake in. Sampson-Bladen Oil Company, Clark Brothers, and Clearwater Enterprises are part of a wide family portfolio holding convenience stores and petroleum products, truck transport, commercial real estate, farmland, timber and Camp Clearwater, a large campground on the shore of White Lake, NC. Once retired, Mr. Clark was stimulated by interacting with his brothers and the upcoming family generations in their efforts to advance corporate success.

A seven-decade member of the Elizabethtown Baptist Church, Giles served as a deacon and perennially taught Sunday School. Often the person asked to bless the meal or offer prayer for other events, he held quiet witness to his faith through helping others and striving to show kindness to all. He lived in steady gratitude to the Lord and knew that keeping the faith is a daily project.

The judge became a grandfather at the grandfatherly age of 71 and lived to see his two grandchildren graduate college. Much of his later life was built around family, with many activities centered on summers at his home on White Lake. Grandchildren Lindsay and Matthew Woodard grew up in Raleigh, and “Goodole” (short for “Good Ol’ Granddaddy”) and “Mema” (Rachel) regularly made the trip from Bladen County to attend the kids’ school and church events, music recitals and sport competitions.

Likewise, few UNC Tar Heel football and basketball games escaped Giles’ viewing, and each season he mandated that a minimum of one game in each sport be attended in person by the family, which they did until he was age 90. He also remained loyal to his undergraduate alma mater, keeping tabs on the East Carolina University Pirates. When ECU and UNC would face off, he’d gleefully say, “whatever the outcome, my team will win!”

Mr. Clark was preceded in death by his parents, H. Manly Clark and Mary Robertson Clark; brothers, H. Manly Clark Jr. and Rogers H. Clark; and first wife, Dottie Matthews Clark. He is survived by his second wife, Rachel Peterson Clark; brother, David K. Clark; children with Dottie Clark: Giles R. “Bob” Clark Jr. (Robyn), Martin Matthews Clark (Julia) and Catherine Clark Woodard (David); grandchildren, Lindsay Olivia Woodard and Matthew Clark Woodard; stepson, Walter Payne Keziah III; and more than a dozen nieces and nephews who shared mutual affection with “Uncle Giles.”

Mr. Clark’s children with Dottie Clark are all long married and grateful for the loving parents who supported, motivated and encouraged them. Bob Clark is an airline Captain residing in Texas, Martin Clark is a filmmaker/writer in Chapel Hill and Catherine Clark Woodard is an attorney in Raleigh. They are also thankful their father found a great partner after Dottie died in the kind person of Rachel Clark.

The family appreciates the many condolences and stories of how Judge Clark mentored, inspired, assisted or entertained them—his humor, easygoing nature and wisdom are fondly remembered.

A celebration of life for Mr. Clark will be held at 1 PM Saturday, August 1 at the Elizabethtown Baptist Church. A visitation will follow in the church fellowship hall.

Donations can be made in Judge Clark’s memory or honor to:

Legal Aid of North Carolina

Elizabethtown Baptist Church

Southeastern Carolina Crossroads