Conrad E. Clare

Conrad Eugene Clare was born on July 4, 1926 in Harlem, New York, to Charles Llewellyn Clare and Sylvia Ann Plummer Clare. His parents were from Guyana and Jamaica and married after meeting in New York. Conrad was the third of five children. While growing up he was the lead Acolyte and carried the cross at St. Martin’s Episcopal Church on Lenox Avenue, in Harlem. 

Conrad attended New York City public schools where he excelled. He was such a sharp student he took advanced placement classes and was skipped in the 8th grade. Conrad’s father was a handyman who owned his own grocery store where Conrad worked after school. Feeling restrained by his rigid West Indian upbringing, not wanting to work in his father’s store anymore and becoming bored with school, Conrad wanted to see the world. Defying his parent’s wishes for him graduate, he left high school before graduating and tried to enlist in the military. He was rejected because he was too young. His father reluctantly agreed to sign for him to enlist. His high score on the entry exam qualified him for the Navy, although he wanted to go to the army. It was WWII when few Blacks were in the Army and he was just 16. He was enlisted in the Navy and was sent to the South Pacific where he served for less than two years because the war ended in 1945.

While in the Navy, he wanted to take a girl out and her father said that “in order to take my daughter out you must marry her”; so he married her for the day and returned to the ship the next day.

Creative and artistic himself, his friends were members of the Negro Ensemble Company, artists, musicians, and activists.“CC” as he was known in the New York arts scene was a lover of jazz and blues. He also loved carpentry and construction, fixing cars, and following his heart wherever it lead him.  He aspired to being a disc jockey (D.J.) and studied broadcast communications. His mellifluous voice and charismatic presence got him a leading role in an Off-Broadway play.

Conrad was a voracious reader who collected all kinds of books, studied the classics and enjoyed the great literature of the Western and Eastern worlds. He also enjoyed studying blueprints for building projects. 

Conrad had all types of jobs, including a furniture showroom retailer.  He worked at night in the General Post Office in New York City as a supervisor, retiring in 1990.  At the same time he worked at the Grand Central Station health food store.


He was a card carrying member of the NAACP and inspired by the Million Man March, he became a founding member of the African American Men’s Association (AAMA) in Ellenville. This association has become known for its mentoring of young black men and  boys deemed at risk for dropping out of school and society. As a founding member, carpenter and construction manager,  he will be  especially well remembered for single-handedly renovating the 15,000sf building used by AAMA for its mentoring and tutoring programs.

For the last 12 years Conrad worked in one of his most meaningful jobs with the Ellenville Public School system.   He loved helping young people especially young men, and  inspiring them to greatness. Colleagues and students both acknowledge his contribution to the social and academic life of the high school. He was cited as one of the most influential Black men to ever serve as a staff member of the school.  

He will be greatly missed by all, especially his daughter Niamo Nancy Mu’id Davis and her husband Jonathan Davis; his grand children Namibia Mu’id and Touré Mu’id; and his great-grandson Brian A. Mayer Jr.; in addition to the students and staff of the Ellenville Public School District and Community.  He predeceases his wife Jeanette DeSandies Clare Plunkett.  

The Memorial Service is to be held on Februrary 22, 2014 at The Shiloh Baptist Church 60 Berme Road Ellenville, NY.  In lieu of flowers you may make donations to the Conrad Clare Memorial Fund c/o  Ellenville Central School District 29 Maple Ave.  Ellenville NY 12428.