Conseleya 9/11 Memorial
Dewitt 9/11 Memorial
Montclair State University 9/11 Memorial
East Newark 9/11 Memorial
Fair Haven 9/11 Memorial
Freehold Township 9/11 Living Memorial Tree Grove
Crescent Beach Park - Flagpole/Memorial for 9/11 Victims
Garrison Elementary School American Patriot Garden
Keansburg Beach Front Memorial
Christopher Robert Clarke, affectionately known by his nickname "Buddha", was one of the unfortunate Americans who went to work at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. As the definition of a family man, Buddha leaves behind so many who mourn his untimely passing at the age of 34. Buddha grew up in the western suburbs of Philadelphia and started his formal education at the Rosemont School of the Holy Child. He continued on to graduate from St. Joseph’s Preparatory School in 1986 and Fordham University in 1990.
Buddha started working in Philadelphia at Clarke & Company, his father’s government bond trading firm. He next set his sights on Wall Street and secured a position at Wertheim Schroder as a bond trader. In 1996, Buddha moved on to Sandler O’Neill & Partners, a New York based investment banking firm. He became a Managing Director at Sandler O’Neill in just 4 years time. While extremely focused on his career, Buddha always found time for his main passions in life - golf, cigars, and most importantly, friends and family.
New York Times Portraits of Grief
Christopher Clarke was fun-loving and had a magnetic personality, and of course he had his habits, for which there were no ready explanations. After dinner, he invariably lit up a cigar, and he'd have one on the golf course. He adored cheeseburgers. In the summer, he might have a cheeseburger for breakfast, a cheeseburger for lunch and a cheeseburger for dinner. He insisted on Cokes in the old-fashioned glass bottles. The refrigerator had to be constantly replenished with them.
Why?
"I have no idea," said Casey Clarke, his wife.
Mr. Clarke, 34, a bond trader for Sandler O'Neill & Partners, married last March. His wife had been living and working in Philadelphia, and he loved Philadelphia, so they settled there and he commuted to the World Trade Center. He joked that it took her three minutes to commute to work while it took him three hours.
He called his wife Pumpkin. She called him Buddha. Everyone had been calling him Buddha since he was small. When he was a baby, his mother had propped him up on the table in his diaper, and he sat there, his legs crossed, his pudgy stomach all too evident, and her brother walked in and declared, "There's Buddha."
Whenever he called his mother, Janet Clarke, he always began, "Hi, this is your M.C.," for model child. He has a twin brother, Tim, who would tease him, "Watch your step, because I'm the older one." Tim was born 14 minutes earlier.
As a new parent at The Prep I
As a new parent at The Prep I offer my sympathies to a fellow Prep family at this time of sorrow prayers and memories. May Christopher's soul rest in eternal peace. Amen.
Posted by Yasmin D M
Thinking of you Buddha and
Thinking of you Buddha and all the good, ol highschool times. Lots of good memories. You are missed by a lot of people, but we think of you and smile that's for sure!
Posted by Betsy McCabe Billie
Prayers for the family of Christopher Robert Clarke
I received a prayer card at my church just after 9/11 - I pray for the family of Christopher Robert Clarke each anniversary of 9/11. May God give you peace and strength for today. God Bless all of you. Marie Palmquist, Irvine, CA
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