Three years after son’s death, WTAE-TV anchor Mike Clark honors his memory with endowed scholarship

When Mike Clark reflects on the kind of person his son Matthew was, he often returns to Christmas.

One specific holiday season tends to stick out. A preteen Matthew felt bad that he hadn’t gotten his parents or three siblings any gifts, so he decided to make them all something unique. After all the presents were unwrapped on Christmas morning, Matthew gathered the Clarks around the family computer in the basement and played a music video he made starring all of them.

“He was proud because he put each of us on the screen for the same amount of time,” Clark, a WTAE-TV anchor since 1995, told the Union Progress. “It was a beautiful thing that Matthew wanted us all together to share this. I think of that every Christmas.”

Matthew died on Sept. 28, 2019, in Denver as a result of a hiking accident. He had just turned 26. Three-plus years of time hasn’t eased the blow of such a tragic loss for his father; Clark’s wife, Terri; and Matthew’s siblings, Michael, 31, Danielle, 27, and Anthony, 25.

Clark always knew that he wanted to honor Matthew’s memory in some way, though he and his family needed space to work through their grief first. Earlier this year, the ball began rolling on the Matthew J. Clark ’12 Endowed Scholarship Fund, which when fully funded will give at least one prospective Central Catholic High School student who needs the financial boost a free ride to the Oakland private school.

“It won’t bring Matthew back, but it will help his spirit live on forever,” said Matthew Stoessel, Central Catholic’s executive director of advancement. “I think that’s really special.”

A great kid

Clark said Matthew’s “heart was bigger than anybody’s.” The Matthew he knew was a deep thinker who always found the good in people. That’s the impression Joe Belechak, 63, of Cranberry and a longtime friend to the Clarks, had of Matthew as well.

“He was just beautiful,” Belechak said. “Beautiful smile, great kid, funny, really inquisitive. Just a lovely, beautiful young man.”

Jeff Wlahofsky, 62, of Churchill, is another close confidante of the Clarks who coached Matthew in both baseball and soccer. He remembered Matthew as a happy, smiley kid who was always “extremely caring about other players on the team.”

Matthew was living in Denver and happened to be home on the Friday night before his death. Clark said they spoke on the phone that evening and Matthew sounded enthusiastic about the “two 14ers” — aka 14,000-foot mountains — he was set to tackle the next day.

“He was really excited,” Clark said. “He wanted to get a good night’s sleep. He got up there really early in the morning and was doing what he loved to do.”

The Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards ceremony happened to be in Pittsburgh that year, and Clark had been asked to welcome everyone to the festivities. He had just picked up his daughter from the airport and was on his way to the hotel a few hours before the Emmys when he first received word about Matthew’s accident.

“You don’t want to believe it,” he said. “We do stories all the time on tragedies. I said, ‘I’m not going to believe it, because sometimes they make mistakes.’”

Unfortunately, it was true, and it hit everyone in the Clarks’ orbit like a ton of bricks. Wlahofsky said he was essentially immobilized for 1½ hours after his wife gave him the terrible news.

“I just sat there thinking about Matthew,” he recalled. “When I think about Matthew that day, it still brings tears to my eyes.”

‘It just took off’

Clark first brought up the idea of creating something lasting in Matthew’s name shortly after his death. Matthew was a 2012 Central graduate who played for the Vikings’ soccer team, so the idea of giving back to Central in some way was always an appealing option.

“I think at first it was just too raw,” Belechak said. “Eventually, Mike thought it would be appropriate to honor him in some way. The family thought this endowed scholarship at Central would be a great way to do that.”

The main architect of the Matthew J. Clark ’12 Endowed Scholarship Fund was Mike Kelly, 63, of Hampton, who has known the Clark family for 30 years. He asked both Clark and Central officials if it would be all right to start fundraising for an endowed scholarship at the school’s Viking Victory Auction in April. No one objected.

“They were telling me that we needed to get over $25,000,” Kelly said. “In the first two minutes, even before we got out of the gate, we were over $25,000. From that point on, it just took off. It’s for a great cause and a great family. Everything about it is perfect.”

Kelly said they wound up raising $60,000 for the scholarship fund during the live portion of the auction and were up to $100,000 by the end of the night. Soon after the auction, Belachak and Wlahofsky came on board with the mission of continuing to fill the scholarship’s coffers. They were at $125,000 in pledges by the end of the first week and, as of early December, had raised about $250,000.

Anyone who wants to donate to the Matthew J. Clark scholarship can do so via centralcatholichs.com/pages/give. Everyone involved is aiming for it to be open for applications in time for the 2023-24 academic year. Stoessel, a 1995 Central graduate, said that about 40% of Central students receive financial aid and that he hopes this scholarship will reach the point where it can “be as helpful as possible” to potential Central attendees.

It currently costs $13,675 in annual tuition for one student to attend Central. The goal is for the scholarship to at least provide for one student’s tuition each year at the outset, and whatever else ends up being raised will go toward supporting as many other students as it can handle.

“If they can help one kid, that would be great,” Belachak said. “If they can help three, that will be even better.”

Matthew’s vision

This scholarship is yet another example of how Pittsburgh has continued to rally around the Clarks in the aftermath of Matthew’s death.

“I know people care about us,” Clark said. “But to get that kind of support from friends and strangers who reached out and have now become friends, that has helped greatly to receive their love.”

Matthew never liked being the center of attention — “unlike his father,” Clark quipped — but he thinks his son would have been ecstatic about a scholarship in his name that directly benefits an eighth grade boy who otherwise couldn’t afford a Central Catholic education. Clark hopes that whoever ends up receiving the scholarship “shares Matthew’s vision of bringing people together.”

Kelly, Belechak and Wlahofsky are doing everything in their power to get the scholarship where it needs to be for maximum positive impact. They’ve held three fundraising events since September, and Kelly said, “There are people who are continually jumping on board” to support this endeavor.

“If somebody really wants to go [to Central] and doesn’t have the money, we want to make sure they can go,” Kelly continued. “If Matthew Clark’s memory can help a few young men, that’s great.”

Stoessel knows there’s nothing Central can do to “fill the void” left by Matthew, but he would like to think the amount of excitement the scholarship has generated is providing some level of catharsis for the Clarks.

“We’re just going to keep trying to fill that cup up … so you know we’re here,” he said. “We’re not going anywhere and we’re going to support you in any way that you can.”

Clark expects to never totally stop grieving Matthew. He has found some solace, though, in the notion of other Pittsburgh kids getting to explore their education, join the Central community and build upon their relationship with God — “all those things that were important to Matthew” — thanks to a scholarship bearing his late son’s name.

“As long as Central exists, there will be a Matthew scholarship,” he said. “His spirit will be alive knowing he’ll be helping families. That’s what gives us joy.”

Note: A previous version of this story misrepresented how much it costs annually to attend Central Catholic High School. It has been updated to reflect the correct figures.