Eganville

Roger Clarke

Let’s welcome our neighbour, Roger Clarke.

Hi, Roger! Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hi, I’m Roger Clarke — a proud husband, father, grandfather, and Ottawa Valley resident. While I grew up in Ottawa, my teaching career brought me to the community of Deep River in 1984 after teaching for three years in Southern Alberta. With my wife, Joanne, expecting our first child, we decided to do the sane, rational thing — we quit our jobs to move closer to Ottawa to raise our family. Little did we know that 40 years later we would raise three children, be Nana and Papa to four grandchildren, and call the Ottawa Valley “home.”

I enjoyed a rich and rewarding career with the Renfrew County District School Board and eventually retired in 2017 after eight years as Director of Education. I had the pleasure of working with some of the best educators and support staff in the entire province. My teaching career brought me to six schools in the communities of Deep River, Petawawa, and Pembroke. Post-retirement, I have continued to work as an educational consultant. In April 2025, I was appointed school board trustee for Whitewater Region/Admaston Bromley until the upcoming October 2026 election.

As a person who enjoys sports and the outdoors, we were drawn to the area for its natural amenities, gorgeous vistas, and friendly people. There aren’t too many sports I haven’t played at one time or another, but currently I enjoy rowing, cycling, and a little golf. I’m also a long-suffering Leaf fan.

My hobbies include anything to do with home repairs, home remodelling, and outdoor landscaping, although I know my limitations and am not afraid to call in the experts when I’m in over my head or lacking the know-how — which is often.

For the past two years, I’ve had the pleasure of volunteering as a Community Representative at the Pembroke Regional Hospital. I figured I’d better get to know the people who might be poking and prodding me in my old age.

Have you ever named your car? If so, what names have you used?

My first car was a 1956 Buick Special. I bought her when I turned 17 in 1974 for $450, and she was a beauty. She was painted a Bedford blue and adorned with tons of chrome. From the moment I sat in the driver’s seat, I called her “Betsy.” Not sure how I arrived at the name, but it just seemed right. As our car selections changed with the dynamics of a growing family and travelling all over the province, taking our kids to practices and games, our car names shifted to more utilitarian terms. This was mainly an attempt to encourage and maybe even shame our kids into trying to keep the car from being a collecting spot for all their discarded candy wrappers, fast food containers, and empty drink cans. At times, I felt like I was driving the Griswold’s “Wagon Queen Family Truckster.”

If you could visit anywhere in the world, where would you go and why?

While I admit I’m a bit of a homebody, my wife has stretched me in the travel department. I feel blessed to have travelled to many countries in Europe. Europe is accessible, rich in history and culture, and relatively affordable. Having said that, the one country we still have on our bucket list is Portugal. I would love to explore the Alfama District in Lisbon, check out the wine region in the Douro Valley, and the Algarve along the southern coast.

If you could start a whole new career path, what would you be?

I would have chosen carpentry, as I wished I had explored this more in high school. I learned a lot from my dad, as he was a tradesman and always puttering around the house fixing, renovating, or building things. I would occasionally help him, but he wasn’t the easiest to work with, as he was a perfectionist and expected you to know what he was thinking or planning next. I’ve been told by my wife that I have inherited his traits.

I always wanted to build a log home, and in the early 1990’s, we bought a piece of property along the Ottawa River in Point Alexander and contracted a log home craftsman to build our dream home. Had I been a carpenter, I would have loved to handcraft a home with square timber pine logs.

What is your favourite sandwich? Why?

My favourite sandwich is peanut butter and banana between two slices of whole wheat bread that have been spread generously with butter. This was my go-to snack after school as a teenager, and I would park myself in front of the TV to watch all those iconic series, such as All in the Family, MASH, Happy Days, and Columbo. I’d typically wash the sandwich down with a large cold glass of milk.

What actress did you have a crush on as a kid?

Without a doubt, I had the biggest crush on Elizabeth Montgomery, who played Samantha in the hit 1960’s sitcom Bewitched. Her unforgettable signature nose twitch, kind-hearted nature, and occasional mischievous character made this magic-wielding witch very attractive to a ten-year-old kid.

What was the worst style choice you ever made?

In the summer of 1970, a buddy and I decided to get our shoulder-length hair cut at a fancy hair salon. We road our bikes down to the salon, excited about our first hair stylist treatment. The stylist took me first, washed my hair, and placed me in the styling chair. As she started to cut my hair, I regretted not having a picture to describe the style I wanted, but I assumed she had done dozens of such cuts. I asked for a layered cut on the top and sides, but to keep the back long. After a few minutes of cutting, she started brushing and drying my hair.

As my cut was revealed in the mirror, I was staggered by what I saw. I looked like a French poodle with a mullet. This was not what I wanted, but I was too embarrassed to say anything. As I left the styling chair to head back to the waiting area, the expression on my buddy’s face only reaffirmed my dismay.

To this day, we both laugh about the experience, and I still can’t believe he sat in the chair after me and didn’t run for the hills after seeing my haircut. We both wore our baseball caps all summer and happily returned to our regular barber after that.

If you could ask your pet two questions, what would you ask them?

We currently only have one pet, a high-strung, white, long-haired cat. The first question I would ask Lulu is, “What is going on in your little head when you awaken at 4:00 AM and race all over the house?” The second question I would ask is, “Do you want me to look into corrective surgery for your snoring?”

What would be your trademark karaoke song?

In the 1980’s, my wife and I took a Contiki Grand European tour and visited 14 countries in 62 days. Our bus was full of Canadians, New Zealanders, and Aussies. On the mornings when we packed up and headed to our next destination, our tour guide would put in a cassette tape and play the Rolling Stones’ “Start Me Up” over the public address system. Our group would erupt in unison as we sang the lyrics, and to this day, that tune brings back so many nostalgic memories of one of the best trips of our lives. If I had to choose a trademark karaoke song, that would be the one!

You’ve just won the lottery. What would you do with your windfall?

I feel very blessed for what my wife and I have been able to experience and accumulate over the years, but if I was to win the lottery, I would pay off our children’s mortgages and help them finance the homes of their dreams, set up trust funds for all the grandkids, donate money to our favourite charities, send our cat to an exclusive cat retreat, and then set off on a world cruise.

If you could use a time machine to travel to any time, past or future, what era would you visit? Why?

I don’t think I would want to go back in time, although there would be many exciting times to experience, and it would be interesting to see how the Pyramids, Stonehenge, Roman Colosseum, and the Acropolis were built, as well as witness the birth of Christianity — but my choice would be to go into the future to meet my great grandkids, forty or fifty years from now. I would want to share our collective experiences as a family, the values that were important to us in our lives, and how we have entrusted our family legacy to them.

Thanks for sharing with us, neighbour Roger.

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Next week, we will welcome Taylor Hanrath.