Calgary city council paid tribute to long-time former city alderman and mayoral runner-up Ray Clark after he died over the weekend.

Calgary Mayor Jeromy Farkas shared the news with his fellow council members before the resumption of 2026 budget deliberations on Nov. 24. Clark was 81.

Farkas said that Clark began his career with the City of Calgary in 1965 as a planning technician. He was also involved in the community with the Marlborough Community Association, the Calgary Board of Education, and the City of Calgary parks department.

“Over the weekend, I noted on social media that my very first civic memory as a Calgarian was actually his visit as alderman to my northeast Calgary school,” Mayor Farkas said.

Clark was first elected as a councillor in 1983, serving Ward 10, succeeding Gord Shrake. Clark served as the Ward 10 representative on council until he ran for mayor in 1998 against Al Duerr.

Duerr won that election with 182,780 votes, with Clark in second place with 43,242 votes. In third place, interestingly, was current Postmedia columnist Rick Bell.

It was that mayoral run that launched the initial political run for Ward 10 Coun. Andre Chabot. Clark had visited Chabot’s door during one of the campaigns and had encouraged him to run. Chabot said he told Clark that he wouldn’t run as long as Clark was representing Ward 10, and that he’d consider it if Clark ran for mayor.

“I ran into him just before the 1998 election, and he said to me, ‘Oh yeah, I remember a conversation we had about you running for alderman?’ I said, ‘Yeah, what about it?’ He says, ‘Well, I’m not sure if you heard, but I’m running for mayor. So, there you go. We need you to run,’” Chabot recalled.

“So, he’s the one who talked me into even putting my name forward.”

Devoted to his community

While Chabot didn’t win that first time around, the experience pushed him to stay involved in the community – eventually helping him secure a byelection win in 2005.

He said Clark was very much a community-minded representative.

“He stayed really close to his community, and he was very responsive to individual citizens’ needs,” Coun. Chabot said.

“That’s what I tried to emulate in my own tenure as a councillor, is to try and serve the people as much as possible, because he was certainly good at that.”

Chabot said Clark was well-known for looking after his own backyard. He played a big role in the development of Max Bell Arena and the Don Hartman Arena.

“We know him and Ray Jones worked closely together to get to those facilities built, and I know he had a big hand in getting Village Square (Leisure Centre) approved.”

Clark had been struggling with kidney issues for some time, according to Chabot, along with cancer. In order to be eligible for a kidney transplant, he had to be cancer-free for a certain number of years, Chabot said.

“It was a struggle,” he said.

Mayor Farkas said he may not be in the mayor’s chair today if not for the enthusiasm Clark had for participating in the community.

“I don’t think I would have wanted to go on to become the CEO of a provincial park, if not for the fact that he planted the seed in our classroom, but also our community association for ideas about ways we can be much more active and fuller participants, rather than just passive observers to the work that was being done.”

Funeral arrangements for Clark are being finalized. The City of Calgary will be posting a detailed list of Clark’s contributions to the city on their website.

The flag in front of historic city hall will also fly at half-mast on the day of Clark’s memorial service.