Andy Clark Sr. Memorial

ANDY CLARK SR. MEMORIAL
Westward Drive median across from U.S. Post Office

Andy Clark Sr.
1923 – 1998
In Honor of His Tireless Efforts to Bring Local TV Programming and Emergency Communications Services to the Residents of Miami Springs

Andy Clark, Sr. was originally from Kansas. When he got out of the service after World War II, he moved his parents, who were not in good health, to Miami, where his sister was living. A ham radio operator since 1939, he met his future wife Betty Schuyler through her cousin, who was also a ham radio enthusiast. They married and moved to Miami Springs in 1951, where he worked as a long range communications specialist for the FAA and Aeronautical Radio on 36th Street.

Andy and Betty, a ham radio operator herself, raised six children while also founding two all-volunteer groups. The first was the Miami Springs Radio Club (composed mainly of airlines communications personnel) that assisted the Red Cross, City Hall and the U.S. Weather Bureau during hurricanes and other emergency situations. His work was so outstanding in this field that in 1958 he received an award from General Electric for Outstanding Amateur Radio Emergency Communications. Becoming interested in video production through his son, Andy Jr., he also started Miami Springs TV Productions, a group that produced several hours a day of local programming on public access cable channels and had its production studio on the Clarks’ front sun porch.

Andy, a proponent for open government and an informed citizenry, was responsible for the first broadcasts of City Council meetings, an activity he continued until six days before his death from cancer in 1998.

His memory is preserved on the Westward Drive median across from the U.S. Post Office, the site from which he produced his lively and often hilarious “man on the street” show called “What’s Your Opinion?” where passersby were interviewed about national and local events, topics of interest and pet peeves.