Heath S. Clark

Biography

The Business Hall of Fame of Indiana County presents Heath S. Clark in its Class of 2024.

As the president of Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company, Heath Clark was instrumental to the company’s growth within the mining industry in its pivotal years, but especially its emergence as an economic pillar of Indiana County.

Born in 1893 in Brookville, Clark graduated in 1910 from Kiski School in Saltsburg and earned degrees at Wharton School in Philadelphia and in 1916 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Heath Clark joined R&P Coal Company in 1919 and rose through the ranks in the legal department. He succeeded his father, Benjamin Clark, as the president in 1933.

In her book “Rochester & Pittsburgh Coal Company: The First One Hundred Years,” Eileen Mountjoy Cooper wrote of Clark taking leadership in the years following R&P’s acquisition and mergers with several other coal companies in Indiana and Jefferson counties. Clark led R&P through the Depression years and maintained it through industrywide economic struggles marked by overproduction, price wars, competition from other fuels, and bitter “cutthroat competition” among companies.

In 1938, he rallied Indiana County community leaders and organizations to an understanding that a thriving coal industry translated to high productivity in other businesses. R&P produced 395 million tons of coal in 1939, and 514 million tons in 1941. As World War II brought new demand for increased coal production, it also took mine workers away for military service. Clark answered that with a plan to increase mechanization of many mining processes. The company produced an all-time high of 631 million tons of coal in 1947.

While leading R&P, Clark also was named president of the Central Pennsylvania Coal Producers Association and the National Coal Association from 1937 to 1939.

Heath Clark stepped down as R&P’s president in 1948 and remained active with the company as chairman of the finance committee until 1957. He retired as a director in 1968 and died in 1972 at age 79.

Clark served his community 37 years as a director of Savings & Trust Company and sat on the board of Indiana Hospital. He also was a member of the Indiana County Bar Association.

Clark also was known for his deep-seated loyalty to and financial support of his alma mater. School documents attribute Clark’s efforts in earning Kiski’s designation as a nonprofit institution in 1941. He served as chairman of the board of trustees from 1941 to 1968, and was known for generously underwriting tuition for students in need to attend the prestigious prep school.

In 1967, Kiski built and dedicated Heath S. Clark Hall, its main classroom building, in honor of his unparalleled support of the school. In the words of Headmaster John Pidgeon, “It is rare that one can point to one man as being the reason for a school’s having prevailed over the years. There is no doubt, however, that had it not been for Heath Clark there would not today be a Kiski.”

Heath Clark also dedicated himself to advancement of St. Francis College in Loretto, where served on the college’s board of advisors and the board of directors of the Friends of St. Francis Foundation. Clark led fundraising for construction of a dormitory and acquisition of the Schwab Estate, and encouraged the development of a summertime professional advancement course, the Mining Men Class. St. Francis College conferred an honorary doctoral degree on Clark in 1945.

Father John Boccella, of St. Francis Seminary, told Clark in appreciation of his support that elevated the college and its work… “that will grow to proportions that cannot be measured with human values. Humanity is always grateful to men like you.”

In his remarks to the first graduating class of Mining Men in 1949, Clark said…”I haven’t any doubt that each and every one of you will be better off for having done it, and that you will improve your chances to make your way in this world, and I haven’t any doubt that the coal mining industry in this district will be better off because we have a common problem here, a common problem that will be solved by better knowledge and better understanding, and better men in all phases of this industry.”

The Indiana County Chamber of Commerce proudly presents Heath Steck Clark for induction into the Indiana County Business Hall of Fame.