Clark Ray, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate who worked for four D.C. mayors and most recently served as executive director of the District of Columbia State Athletics Association, died at his home on Saturday, June 5, of unknown causes.
His husband, Aubrey Dubra, said Ray passed away in his sleep and the D.C. Medical Examiner’s Office, under standard procedures for unexplained deaths, conducted an autopsy and the results were still pending.
News of Ray’s passing, which first surfaced in Facebook postings on Saturday, drew dozens of messages of sympathy from friends and political associates who have known Ray through his more than 20 years of political and local government involvement in D.C.
Former Mayor Vincent Gray appointed Ray in 2012 as executive director for the then newly created District of Columbia State Athletics Association, an arm of the D.C. public school system that jointly works with D.C. charter schools and private parochial schools to coordinate school athletics programs, including high school sports competition in soccer, football, cross country track and other team sports.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser retained him for that position when she took office in 2015, and Ray held the position at the time of his passing.
In a statement released on Saturday, Bowser praised Ray for taking “extraordinary measures” during the COVID-19 pandemic to support the city’s student athletes and help the school athletics programs return to a safe place.
“We are heartbroken over the passing of Clark Ray,” Bowser said in her statement. “Clark was a loving father, husband, and friend who impacted so many lives and will be missed greatly,” the mayor said.
“For more than two decades, he served in a number of roles advancing recreation and athletics to build a sense of community,” the mayor’s statement says. “Serving four mayors, Clark’s legacy will include his tireless work to establish the D.C. State Athletic Association as well as the DCSAA Hall of Fame.”
Dubra told the Blade he and Ray had four adopted sons between the ages of nine and 21. The couple and their family lived in the 16th Street Heights neighborhood in Northwest D.C.
Ray’s LinkedIn page shows his earlier work includes service from 2007-2009 as director of the D.C. Department of Parks and Recreation and from 2006-2008 as senior director of strategy for the Greater Washington Sports Alliance. He served as director of external affairs for the D.C. Sports and Entertainment Commission from 2004 to 2007.
His LinkedIn page says he served from 2000 to 2004 as an official with the Office of Neighborhood Services in the Executive Office of then-D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams.
Gay Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner and longtime Shaw neighborhood activist Alex Padro said he got to know Ray at that time in Ray’s role as Williams’ Ward 2 coordinator.
“Clark was result-oriented, always looking for a way to get something done quickly and efficiently,” said Padro, who called Ray one of the best appointments Mayor Williams made.
Former D.C. Police Lt. Brett Parson, who headed the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit, said Ray served as a Reserve Police Officer assigned to then Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit from 2003 to 2008.
“He was a friend, colleague, and mentor to all of us and made a huge difference in the lives of more people than he will ever know,” Parson said in a statement.
In 2010, Ray ran unsuccessfully for an at-large seat on the D.C. Council against then incumbent Phil Mendelson in the September Democratic primary.
A native of Arkansas, Ray worked in the administration of President Bill Clinton as director of strategic scheduling and advance for Tipper Gore, wife of Vice President Al Gore, in the Office of the Vice President, from 1997-1999.
Ray later served as chief of staff to Tipper Gore as part of the Al Gore for President Campaign from 1999 through the 2000 presidential election.
Ray graduated from Smackover High School in Smackover, Ark., in 1982, before receiving a bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville in 1986. He received a master’s degree in Education and Sports Administration Management at Temple University in Philadelphia in 1988.
His LinkedIn page shows that his long involvement in the field of sports and recreation began during his studies at Temple when he served as a graduate assistant at the university’s Sports Medicine Department and worked for the Philadelphia Phillies and Philadelphia Eagles professional sports teams.
“Clark was the love of my life and a terrific father to our four children,” said Dubra. “He believed in adoption of D.C. children, not an international adoption,” Dubra said. “He was an advocate for making sure that D.C. kids had homes. And that was one of his big things that he wanted to support,” Dubra said. “And I supported him in that process as well because we have four wonderful boys. And they’re all doing very well. And we’ve been very, very fortunate to be able to share our home and our lives with them.”
Ray is survived by his husband, Aubrey Dubra and his sons Rahmeer, 21; Tajon, 18; Jamar,12; and Richard or Ricky, age 9.
Dubra said that to highlight Ray’s dedication to athletics and its positive impact on the city’s young people, he accepted an offer to hold Ray’s funeral service and viewing at the Southeast Tennis and Learning Center in Anacostia at 700 Mississippi Ave., S.E. on Saturday, June 12.
He said a public viewing will take place at the center from 9-11 a.m., at which time a service in celebration of Ray’s life will begin.
Dubra said plans for a burial were still being worked out as of late Monday. He said he and others close to Ray were also working on plans for establishing a foundation in Ray’s name to support foster care and adoption programs in Washington, D.C.
