Duane G. Clarke, 93, chemist and conservationist

Duane G. Clarke, 93, formerly of Meadowbrook, a research chemist and conservationist who helped create a 771-acre land trust in Montgomery County, died Wednesday, May 25, at Normandy Farms Estates, a retirement community in Blue Bell.

Dr. Clarke was a founding board member of the Pennypack Watershed Association, established in 1970 to improve the water quality in Pennypack Creek. The association, which is now the Pennypack Ecological Restoration Trust, gradually assembled a preserve from purchases and conservation easements of land in Abington, Upper Moreland, and Lower Moreland Townships, and the borough of Bryn Athyn.

Dr. Clarke was president of the trust from 1989 to 1996, and continued to serve on the board until 2001. He formerly served on the Lower Moreland Planning Commission and was chairman of the better roads committee of the Lower Moreland Men's Club. He was past president of the Huntingdon Valley Rotary Club and served on committees for the National Association of Conservation Districts. He received an award from the Pennsylvania Association of Conservation Districts for "18 years of dedicated leadership as chairman of the state soil and water resources committee."

He was the recipient of several other awards, including the National DAR Conservation Medal.

Dr. Clarke grew up in Montgomery County, Arkansas, and Florida. He earned a bachelor's degree from Florida Southern College and master's and doctoral degrees in chemistry from Pennsylvania State University.

He began his career with Rohm & Haas Co. as a research chemist and later was an environmental control specialist, developing environmental safeguards for the chemical company.

Dr. Clarke retired in the mid-1980s after almost 40 years at Rohm & Haas facilities in Philadelphia, Bristol, and Spring House.

He was an avid gardener and a talented woodworker and cabinet maker, a nephew John Sutton said.

For 62 years, he was married to C. Eleanor Warr Clarke. The couple met as children in Montgomery County, and reconnected in their late 20s. He often gave photo slide presentations of their frequent travels abroad at community clubs and at Normandy Farms. She died in February.

In addition to his nephew, Dr. Clarke is survived by a sister-in-law, a brother-in-law, and nieces and nephews.

A memorial service will be at 2 p.m., Saturday, July 16, at Normandy Farms Estates, 9000 Twin Silo Dr., Blue Bell.

Memorial donations may be made to Pennypack Trust, 2955 Edge Hill Rd., Huntingdon Valley, Pa. 19006.