Ing. Clark Vargas, P.E. passed away in his home on August 1, 2023, at the age of 78 after a courageous battle with cancer, surrounded by loved ones who will continue to honor his legacy by living their lives to the fullest.
Clark, a native of Barranquilla, Colombia, came to the United States in 1960. Clark’s family moved to the United States where his mother held dual citizenship, from her father who was an American born gold miner who had immigrated to Colombia.
Clark attended Riverside Military Academy, in Gainesville, GA during his middle school years. His junior year of high school his mother sent him back to Colombia to attend the Colombia Military Academy, Bogota. He returned to the United States and to Englewood High School, Jacksonville, FL, for his senior year where he played football and majored in girls.
A Graduate of the University of Florida, Masters in Engineer. Officer in the U.S. Army 249 Corp of Engineers (1966 to 1969). Clark Vargas was also a registered Professional Engineer in 17 States.
Clark Vargas was defined by his love of God, Family, this beautiful Country and his profession applied to the Shooting Sports.
Clark’s avocation for community service had him also serving as Chaiman on various commissions and Organizations through the years. He was Co-Founder, Past-President and Vice President Hispanic American Business Association (HABA), Past President, Rotary Club of Southpoint, President Character Counts in Jacksonville, Founding member and Current Chair of North Florida Hispanic Leadership Alliance.
Clark served for 10 years on Jacksonville Environmental Protection Board, four of those years as chairman. Clark has served on many local, state and national boards, naming just a few, he was Past Member of Jacksonville Environmental Land Selection Committee; Received the United States Small Business Administration Award of Appreciation in 1988 as a Minority Enterprise Outstanding Performance and Commitment to Excellence; Member of Duval County Water Quality Coordinating Committee (SWIM).
The Shooting Sports were his passion. Clark was past president of the Gateway Rifle and Pistol Club, past president of the Florida Sport Shooting Association, the NRA’s official state association, and a 2200-family member shooting club in Jacksonville, Florida. He was an endowment member of the NRA, and an alum of the Jacksonville FBI Citizen’s Academy, class of 2006. Clark was also a past director of shooting for the Florida Sports Foundation, which promotes shooting competitions in Florida for the Governor’s Florida Sports Foundation.
Clark Vargas was president of a very successful 40+ year old Civil/Environmental Engineering firm in Jacksonville and has designed “shooting ranges” in 21 States, Mexico and Canada.
During his 40 years of practice as a Civil Engineer and Shooting Range Subject Matter Expert, Vargas evolved as a leader in the field of designing shooting ranges nationwide.
Clark’s resume and credentials are seven pages long and as listed on his website at C. Vargas and Associates, LTD, (www.cvaltd.com). As impressive as his resume is and as proud of him as we are, we would like for you to know about Clark, the person, the husband, father, grandfather, friend and just downright good guy.
Among Clark’s many interests were saltwater sport, fishing, and sports shooting. He shot competitively in conventional and international pistol and had been invited to shoot for the U.S. Olympic Pistol Team try-outs in 1989. A heart attack, attached to a 600 pounds female blue marlin stopped that endeavor.
At about this same time, the Tampa Police Department Pistol range closed down by a court order that Clark found to be ridiculous and questioned the rationale behind. As an engineer, he felt he could design outdoor shooting ranges that would be safe, family-oriented, and welcome in cities as well as in the country. Clark came up with the No Blue Sky concept for outdoor shooting ranges that kept the projectiles on the range property, provided a quiet neighborhood-friendly place for people to go learn or improve on shooting skills. From that time on, Clark was sought out as an Outdoor Shooting Range Designer and Engineer.
He studied the terrain and the surrounding community then he designed shooting range parks that could grow with the community. As his fame grew, he designed well over 1,000 ranges across the country, helping to restore areas that had been blighted by strip mining, ranges that had become encompassed by growing cities and redesigned ranges that had not been correctly designed and/or built. Big or small, he was always ready to listen, give advice and help with making ranges better and more inviting. He was often called upon to be an expert witness in court cases.
Clark Vargas always said he was very lucky to have been able to marry his wife Norma, who always put up with him, having 4 children and 8 grandchildren and also marrying his passion for shooting with his avocation of civil engineering design.
Clark is survived by his beautiful wife, Norma, of the home. He was a proud father, and he is survived by Katherine V. and Doug Tillman; Sean Vargas, Patick Freel and Christie Freel. and his mother Edna Sheets; his grandchildren, Amanda Jason and Summer Tillman; Ethan and Ellie Freel, and Ava, Alex and Aliana Freel. His brothers and sisters-in-law, Allan and Elizabeth Vargas, Kenneth and Kim Vargas, Jacqui Hall and 3 nephews and 4 nieces. He was preceded in death by his father, Carlos Vargas, his brother Nelson Vargas and his stepson, Ryan Freel.
