The Reverend Clark Olsen—parish minister and non-profit consultant, whose life was enduringly stamped by his witness of the 1965 murder of UU minister James Reeb during the Selma witness for racial justice—died on 21 January 2019, aged 85.

The Rev’d Mr. Olsen was serving in Berkeley CA in 1965 when Dr. King famously put out the call to American clergy to join him in Selma for protest and presence. “I’d like to go,” was his first thought, despite a packed schedule and no funds for the trip. But when a couple in the congregation offered to pay his way, “I suddenly had to rethink all those excuses.”

Once there, he ran into ministerial colleagues, James Reeb and Orloff Miller, and as they left a local café, they were brutally attacked. Reeb died from his injuries two days later. Over the years, Clark returned to Selma ninety times to share his story with middle and high school students whose travel was sponsored by civil rights groups to promote understanding of those historic events. In 2015 Mr. Olsen received the UUA’s Award for Distinguished Service.

Clark Bird Olsen was born on 22 June 1933 in Boston to Arthur W. and Catherine Bird Olsen and grew up in Toledo OH. He earned a B.A. from Oberlin College (OH) in 1955 and completed ministerial study at Harvard in 1959. Following his father’s profession, he began in 1957 as a student minister to the First Unitarian Society of Westborough (MA), was ordained by them on 28 October 1959 and continued there until 1962. Parish settlements then followed at the Berkeley (CA) Fellowship of UUs (1962–68) and the Morristown (NJ) Unitarian Fellowship (1968–78). In the 1980s, he shifted his career to corporate and non-profit consulting.

At his death, Clark was survived by his second wife, Anna (Rogers) Olsen, children Marika and Todd, and brother Lee. A memorial service was scheduled for 2 February 2019 at the UU Congregation of Asheville NC. Notes of condolences may be sent to Anna Olsen at 23C Trillium Ct, Asheville NC 28805.