Joe Clark, former principal of Eastside High School in Paterson, New Jersey, poses for a photo in the school hallways in February of 1988. (Photo by Joe McNally/Getty Images)
Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding Principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods at Paterson, New Jersey’s
Eastside High School inspired the 1989 film
Lean on Me, has passed away.
A longtime resident of South Orange, NJ, Clark (82) retired to Gainesville, Florida. He was at home and surrounded by his family when he succumbed to his long battle with illness on December 29, 2020.
Born in Rochelle, Georgia, on May 8, 1938, Clark’s family moved north to Newark, New Jersey, when he was six years old. It was in the Garden State that Clark built his legacy through both his accomplished career in education and his children: Olympian and businesswoman
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Joe Clark, Paterson, New Jersey s Principled Principal, Has Passed Away
The No-Nonsense Educator was a Mentor for Students to Lean On
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PATERSON, N.J., Dec. 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding Principal whose unwavering commitment to his students and uncompromising disciplinary methods at Paterson, New Jersey s Eastside High School inspired the 1989 film
Lean on Me, has passed away. A longtime resident of South Orange, NJ, Clark (82) retired to Gainesville, Florida. He was at home and surrounded by his family when he succumbed to his long battle with illness on December 29, 2020.
Joe Clark Dies: High School Principal Who Inspired ‘Lean On Me’ Was 82 Deadline 12/30/2020
Lean On Me, has died. Clark’s family shared in a statement that the retired New Jersey high school principal died Tuesday in his Gainesville, FL home after a long battle with illness. He was 82.
Born in Rochelle, GA in 1938, Clark is most known as the ambitious principal of New Jersey’s Eastside High School who expelled nearly 300 students for drug possession, vandalism and fighting, and challenged the remaining students to strive for better. To help him inspire his students and get his inspirational messages across, Clark carried a bullhorn and baseball bat through the Eastside hallways.
Joe Clark, The No-Nonsense High School Principal Immortalized In Lean On Me, Dies At 82 krrq.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from krrq.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.