ERIN EDGEMON
Posted: Monday, May 11, 2009 3:56 pm

Clark Maples, a veteran of the real estate industry and a strong lover of Murfreesboro and MTSU, died Sunday after a long illness. He was 66.

Maples, owner of Clark Maples Realty & Auction, was known to many for his involvement in the Murfreesboro community.

Jack Weatherford, senior chairman of MidSouth Bank, said Maples had an unbreakable loyalty to Murfreesboro.

Weatherford worked with Maples when Maples served as a member of the board of directors of Murfreesboro Bank & Trust Co., now SunTrust Bank.

"(Maples) was a good citizen of Murfreesboro,” Weatherford said. "He loved Murfreesboro. He always kept that loyalty."

Boots Donnelly, former MTSU athletic director, knew Maples for more than 45 years and called him a dear friend.

“Clark was probably one of the most honorable individuals — one of the best hearted individuals,” he said.

Donnelly said for many years Maples’ name was synonymous with Murfreesboro.

“(His death) is a tremendous loss for the community,” he said. “It is a tremendous loss for his grandkids, for his children, Betsy and Summer, and for us friends.

“Murfreesboro is better off for having Clark Maples as a citizen,” Donnelly said.

Maples servitude to Murfreesboro ran long and deep.

Maples was a graduate of Central High School and MTSU. He was a member of the Rutherford Hospital Board, now Middle Tennessee Medical Center; member of the Board of Directors of Evergreen Cemetery, president of the Blue Raider Club, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce; and director of the Rotary Club.

Maples was also a founding director and former chairman of the Christy-Houston Foundation. He was inducted into the MTSU Blue Raider Hall of Fame in 2003 for football. He was a member and elder of Mt. Tabor Cumberland Presbyterian Church.

Bob Parks, owner of Bob Parks Real Estate, started his real estate career with Clark Maples in 1972.

"He had faith in me," Parks said. "I have thought the world of him ever since. He was a dear dear friend.

"He will be sadly missed," Parks said.

Sheriff’s Detective Mickey McCullough met Maples in 1979 when he began playing football for the MTSU Blue Raiders. Maples was an alumni who supported the football team.

“He was the most kind, gracious and humble friend,” McCullough said. “He was a friend in every sense of the word. He helped me grow into a man. He was another father figure in my life.”

Maples employed McCullough to work auctions and do repairs for real estate while he was at MTSU.

“He’s the kind of man I want my sons to be,” McCullough said.

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Lisa Marchesoni contributed to this report.