When Robert Clark and his brothers lost their father in 1995, they were determined to honor their family by growing the businesses he started. By 2021, combined sales for their two heating and air conditioning companies exceeded $10 million — and Robert had found another way to help Upstate families through his second career as an attorney.
The first Clark family business began humbly in 1969. Aleck, a mechanical engineering graduate of Southern Technical Institute, took a small loan from his mother-in-law and purchased General Heating & Air Conditioning. His sons Paul and Mark joined him after attending college, and when Robert graduated in 1991, he took over the service division, which became a separate company. A few years later, following a short battle with cancer, Aleck, 57, passed away, but his boys continued to build his legacy.
When Robert turned 30, he wanted to do more for the community that had treated his family so well. He began volunteering for the Greenville County Guardian ad Litem (GAL) Program. Advocating for children in custody of the Department of Social Services meant so much to him, he applied to the University of South Carolina School of Law, and in 2004, he was sworn into the S.C. Bar Association.
“I had no thoughts of doing this growing up. Family law is very different than what I imagined law would be like,” Robert says.
Robert has been a contract attorney for what is now the Cass Elias Carter Guardian ad Litem Program for over 15 years, and through Greenville Family Law, he and his associate Nick Saccogna concentrate on custody, adoption and all types of family court cases. Robert also volunteers for the Upstate Mediation Center. “The best outcome is when parents reach an agreement that protects the best interests of the children,” he says. “Sometimes that can be done without the trial process, which can be painful and expensive.”
Robert and his wife, his former high school sweetheart Mary, adopted one of their three children, Christopher, from foster care. They love traveling, and when the pandemic hit, they hit the road for a six-month RV trip, “road-schooling” Christopher on everything from U.S. history to alternate energy sources while seeing landmarks like Mount Rushmore and the Grand Canyon.
Robert’s mom, Annie Mae, still lives in Greenville, and the three Clark boys reside in the same neighborhood. Like their father, each became a private pilot, and Mark volunteers for “Angel Flights,” taking children to specialized hospitals. Robert’s daughter, Mary Myers Hiller, may also pursue law. For now, she and his son Alex represent the third generation in the HVAC business. General Air concentrates on service, maintenance and replacement in residential, commercial and light industrial markets while General Heating & Air Conditioning installs HVAC in commercial and multi-family applications throughout the Southeast.
“It’s exciting to see the businesses surviving and continuing to grow,” Robert says. “That’s what it’s about for our family, and we want to keep doing what we can for other families in our community.”
Article Credits: https://upstatebusinessjournal.com/branded-content/for-robert-clark-its-all-about-family/
