Former Lacey Mayor Virgil Clarkson has died at age 90
Virgil Clarkson, who spent nearly 20 years on Lacey City Council, including three terms as mayor and two terms as deputy mayor, died early Sunday, the city announced. He was 90.
“I’m still having a hard time processing this loss to our community, and to me personally, of someone so synonymous with Lacey that we would 100 percent be a different community without his leadership,” Lacey Mayor Andy Ryder said in a Facebook post. “Rarely are you lucky enough to have the example of who you need to be as a leader so prevalent in your life. I’m a better Mayor and Lacey is a better community because we were fortunate enough to have this amazing leader right here in the City of Lacey, Washington.”
Others who knew Clarkson also shared their thoughts about him on social media.
“Very sorry to see the news about the passing of regional booster and amazing human being, Virgil Clarkson,” said state Rep. J.T. Wilcox.
“Virgil was a wonderful person and a community leader in all that this represents,” said longtime Lacey Fire District 3 commissioner Frank Kirkbride. “I was honored to call him my friend. Rest in peace, Virgil.”
“Goodbye, Virgil,” said longtime Lacey resident and city booster Ken Balsley. “This whole community is going to miss you. And I’m going to miss your sense of humor and that great laugh you have when something hits you as funny.”
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Virgil Clarkson,” said council member Lenny Greenstein. “He is a Lacey icon. He will be greatly missed by our community and by me personally. I learned most of what I know about being a council member from Virgil.”
A Texas native, Clarkson earned an undergraduate degree in math and physics from Texas Southern University in 1953. After graduation, Clarkson served 13 years in the Army, including at Fort Lawton in Seattle.
Following his military service, Clarkson went to work for the Washington state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Highways (now the state Department of Transportation) in Olympia. When hired by the Highways, Clarkson was one of six Black employees at the department.
Clarkson officially took office in Lacey on July 23, 1998. He was Lacey’s first Black mayor, a position he held for two consecutive terms from 2004-2007. He held a third term as mayor from 2012-2013. In honor of Virgil’s service to the community, the City Council appointed him mayor again in December 2017, to close out his final term in office, according to the city.
During his first term as mayor, Clarkson focused on bringing environmentally sustainable, family-wage jobs to the area. In addition, Clarkson served as a champion for older adults, advocating for a new senior center in 2003, as well as a major expansion of the facility in 2012.
In 2005, Senior Services for South Sound officially honored Clarkson as a “Living Legend,” and in 2015, the City Council honored him by renaming the Lacey Senior Center as the Virgil S. Clarkson Lacey Senior Center.
Before serving on council, Clarkson was a driving force to get fair housing ordinances passed, according to the city. This was first accomplished in Lacey, and eventually followed by Olympia, Tumwater, and Thurston County beginning in the mid to late 1960s.
Clarkson held local, state, and national offices for the American Diabetes Association, served as chair of the local chapter of the American Red Cross, and served nearly 20 years on the South Puget Sound Blood Council. He also served 20 years on the Lewis, Mason, and Thurston Selective Service Board, and was a member of the National League of Cities National Black Caucus.
A memorial has yet to be announced. The Clarkson family is still working on the timing and dates for it, Assistant City Manager Shannon Kelley-Fong said Tuesday.
This story was originally published November 14, 2022 at 6:03 PM.
