Long-time weatherman Herb Clarke dies

Herb Clarke, the low-key broadcaster who was a fixture as a weatherman on Philadelphia's Channel 10 newscasts for nearly 40 years, died Sunday at a retirement community in Bryn Mawr.

He was 84.

Barbara Clarke, his wife of 56 years, said in a statement that Mr. Clarke died of complications derived from Alzheimer's Disease.

"The thing with Herb is that he was a regular, down-home guy," said Gerry Wilkinson, the chairman of Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia, an organization devoted to chronicling the region's broadcasting history.

"The friendliness and warmth taht came across on TV, that was all real," Wilkinson said.

Mr. Clarke, who retired from his regular weather duties on Channel 10 in 1998. The station was then owned by NBC, but for most of Mr. Clarke's career, Channel 10 was a CBS property.

"He was one of the original generation of TV people," said newsman Larry Kane, who worked with Mr. Clarke for about 15 years at Channel 10.

"I don't think anybody did weather as long as he did in Philadelphia," said Kane. "That is not easy. Night after night, storm after storm. It's a hard thing."

"He had a sense of responsibility to do the weather correctly," Kane continued. "And he was very sensitive if [the forecast] was wrong."

Mr. Clarke, who was born in Eden, N.C. in 1927.

His first job was with WLOE Radio in Leaksville, N.C.

"It was only 100 watts - and it took a good breeze at your back for the signal to go five miles, the sort of place where one did everything including sweeping up before cutting off the lights at night," he once said.

Until 2005, he filed a daily report for KYW Newsradio on his great passion - gardening. He was heavily involved, as well, in promoting the Philadelphia Flower Show, said Kane.

In 2007, Mr. Clarke received the prestigious Board of Governors Award at the Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.

In his retirement with his wife, Mr. Clarke became quite active in the Broadcast Pioneers, Wilkinson said. He served as president in 1988 and 1989. He was chairman of the board in 1990.

In addition to his wife, Mr. Clarke is survived by two sons and a daughter.