Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Clark lived in Manila, Philippines, from 1904 when his father moved there for business until 1910 when he graduated high school.

Clark flew assignments in Columbus, New Mexico; Kelly Field, Texas; and Fort Sill, Oklahoma.

He went to Hawaii in 1917 to command an air service station and completed the first inter-island flight ever made in the Hawaiian Islands.

Upon his return to the United States, Clark served at fields in Washington, D.C., and San Diego, California.

He died on May 2, 1919, in a seaplane crash in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal Zone and is interred at Arlington National Cemetery.