Dennis Clark

 Clark, Dennis 78, of St. Petersburg passed away on September 6, 2024 surrounded by his family.  He was born in Frankfort, Indiana and moved to St. Petersburg as a child.  He graduated from Boca Ciega High School.  He is survived by his loving wife of 51 years Darlene; two daughters Melissa Ludeker (Patrick) and Jennifer Trombly (William); 5 grandsons who brought him his greatest joy, Kendall Ludeker, Braeden Ludeker, Tristan Trombly, Clayton Trombly and Ashton Trombly; his sisters Leslie Novilla and Linda Homeier (Bob); his brother-in-laws Gary Templeton and Charlie Templeton (Fay); his sister-in-law Tammy Hansen (Ryan); many nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews and a huge EMS/racing family.

He began his career in emergency medicine working for funeral homes as part of their ambulance crew.  While working for Florida Ambulance Service he graduated as part of the first EMT class in Pinellas County. Throughout his career he worked as a paramedic/EMT for Pinellas Ambulance, Medic One, Bayfront Medical Center, Palms of Pasadena and All Children’s Hospital on their children’s ambulance.  Dennis worked for Pasco Fire Department for 33 years until his retirement in 2010.  Needless to say, he devoted his life to saving lives and helping others.

He was an avid model car builder and won many awards for his talents.  He enjoyed sharing his skills with those he loved and created many wonderful memories while attending to precision in creating beautiful replicas of his favorite cars.  He was a member of multiple local model car clubs.

His biggest passion to share was stock car racing.  Through racing he made many friends that turned into family, and created countless memories that will continue to live on and make us smile when we think of them.  Some of his favorite racing memories are going racing with his grandson Kendall and brother-in-law Gary and traveling with Mike Cope Racing/Bowser Motorsports.  He supported a lot of his local favorite drivers and loved to travel the country to watch them.

Throughout the past couple of decades he could also be found at the local little league fields and high schools supporting his grandsons Tristan, Kendall, Clayton, Braeden and Ashton when they played baseball. His grandsons were his pride and joy.

A celebration of life will be held on Saturday, September 21st at 1:00 PM at NOVA 535 (535 Dr. MLK, Jr. Street, St. Peterburg, Fl).  To honor Dennis’s legacy, please wear your favorite racing or first responder shirt. In lieu of flowers the family requests donations to the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation.

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