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 Anne Rogers Clark 1929-2006  The Board of Governors, the officers and members of The Westminster Kennel Club deeply mourn the passing of their friend and colleague, Anne Rogers Clark.  ANNE ROGERS CLARK, one of the premier people in the sport of purebred dogs and a descendant of former New York City Mayor (1826-1827) Philip Hone, died peacefully on Wednesday, December 20 in Wilmington, Delaware, after a lengthy, courageous battle with cancer. She was 77 years old.
The contributions and accomplishments of Mrs. Clark to the sport as a breeder, owner, handler, judge and mentor were incomparable. Like a superstar in any field, she was known affectionately and respectfully throughout the dog show world by her first name only: "Annie." "She was unique to our world, truly one of a kind,” said Westminster Show Chairman Thomas H. Bradley, 3d. “It is difficult to imagine another individual ever again dominating our sport as she did for so many years." As a native New Yorker, she was always proud of the fact that she held a unique place in the history of The Westminster Kennel Club and its world-famous all breed dog show held at Madison Square Garden. In 2006 she attended her 66th consecutive Westminster, a streak dating back to 1941. A second generation dog person, she became the first woman professional handler to win Best In Show at Westminster in 1956, handling the Toy Poodle, Ch. Wilbur White Swan, to the first BIS at Westminster for a Toy breed. She handled two more BIS winners in 1959 and 1961. Her three Best In Show wins as a handler ranks behind only Percy Roberts and Peter Green, who each had four, and ties her with Winthrop Rutherfurd. After retiring from handling, she quickly became one of a select group of individuals licensed by the American Kennel Club as an all-breed judge. Through the ensuing years, Mrs. Clark added to her Westminster credentials, becoming the only person ever to have judged Best In Show (1978) and all seven Groups at Westminster, and also judged the Junior Showmanship finals four times. She had judged at Westminster 22 times, tied at the top of the list for the most judging appearances at America's dog show. She was scheduled to judge the Terrier Group at the club's 131st annual show this coming February. Born in Flushing in 1929, she called herself a stock market crash child. When the family fortune (stemming from Philip Hone) collapsed with the market, the family moved to New York City. When she finished high school, she opted not to go to college so that she could devote herself to the sport of dogs. She worked fulltime at her mother's shop, Dogs, Inc., situated in Midtown Manhattan, and helped her at the shows on weekends. Eventually, she became one of the top professional handlers in the sport. She always enjoyed telling the story about her grandmother, Adele Tobler Hone, being unhappy that her granddaughter had become a professional dog handler. "When I was fortunate enough to win Best In Show at the Garden for the first time in 1956," Mrs. Clark would say, "and my beloved Nana got to read in the New York Times that I was the first lady professional handler to guide a dog to Best in Show at Westminster, she was finally satisfied -- after all it was the New York Times and it was Westminster!" Mrs. Clark bred English Cockers and with her late husband James bred Miniature and Standard Poodles, Norfolk Terriers, and Whippets. In 2002, a Miniature Poodle that she co-bred captured Best In Show at Westminster. For many years from the mid-1960's through the mid-1980's, Mrs. Clark and her late husband were knowledgeable and popular commentators for the Westminster Kennel Club telecast on the Madison Square Garden Network. Mrs. Clark was a past president of the Poodle Club of America and the English Cocker Spaniel Club of America, and a member of the Ladies Dog Club. She won just about every prestigious award in the sport, including Handler of the Year, Judge of the Year (three times), the Mark Morris Lifetime Award, and Dog Writer of the Year. She was a frequent contributor to the AKC Gazette and is the co-author of the International Encyclopedia of Dogs. Her latest book, Annie on Dogs!, is a compilation of her monthly columns written for Dogs In Review magazine. Mrs. Clark had no surviving family. Friends suggest that in lieu of flowers, contributions may be made in the name of Mrs. Clark to Take The Lead, PO Box 6353, Watertown, NY 13601, or to the Poodle Club of America Foundation, Inc., 2945 Jamestown Rd., Long Lake, MN 55356. |
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