Noted community advocate killed in collision

A three-vehicle collision on Highway 16 near Vanderhoof on Friday evening claimed the life of noted community advocate June Clark.

Her husband, Bob, was transported to Vancouver General Hospital with serious injuries.

Nechako-Lakes MLA John Rustad confirmed the news Tuesday.

"It's very tragic," he said.

Rustad said the couple had been "very, very engaged" in the community of 4,500 people 100 kilometres west of Prince George.

"There wasn't much in the community that they weren't involved in in one way or another and of course they were very involved in politics as well at various levels," he said Tuesday.

"June will be sorely missed. She was a go-to person for many people in the community."

She and her husband ran J.B. Clark and Co. Inc., which has provided general management and project management services to private and public sector organizations since 1998. June Clark was also president of Rustad's riding association and managed his last election campaign.

"Ever since I've been involved provincially, I've known the Clarks," Rustad said.

June Clark was a member of the College of New Caledonia board of directors from July 2014 to July 2016 (EDITOR'S NOTE: A previous version of this story incorrectly reported that June Clark was a current member of the CNC board of directors). She had also been a community and economic development manager for the provincial government in northern B.C. and a director for Northern Health's information and technology services, according to a biography on the CNC website.

A noted volunteer, she was actively involved her church, as well as with Ducks Unlimited and had sat on several boards including the Vanderhoof chamber of commerce, University Resources Inc., the Innovation Resource Centre, Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund Society and the Good Neighbors Committee.

Bob Clark is perhaps known as B.C.'s "beetle boss," appointed by the previous B.C. Liberal government to oversee the effort to contain the mountain pine beetle. He was also the lead on the provincial government's effort to help Burns Lake recover from the loss of the Babine Forest Products mill.

He underwent surgery on Sunday and it went well but is still in critical condition with several other injuries, Rustad said.

"But he's starting to be able to respond a little bit, so that's positive," Rustad said.

The collision occurred about eight kilometres east of Vanderhoof sometime before 5 p.m. The stretch was closed in both directions for a bit more than six hours, DriveBC postings indicate.

Other than to say it was a three-vehicle crash and that one person was killed and another taken to hospital with life threatening injuries, North District RCMP Cpl. Madonna Saunderson said she had no further details.