Joel Aaron Clark died after being stabbed in the house he owned in Prestwick. His tenant is charged with second-degree murder
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The victim of a fatal stabbing in McKenzie Towne earlier this week is being remembered as a selfless and caring man who will leave a lasting impression on the many people to whom he’s lent a hand — including those he helped flee from a wartorn Ukraine.
Joel Aaron Clark died Monday after being stabbed in the home he owned on Prestwick Terrace S.E. He was 46.
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Ryan Kinoshita, 29, Clark’s tenant, is charged with second-degree murder.
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“Investigators believe the fatal assault was the result of a dispute between the victim and the accused,” police said in a news release earlier this week.
Derek Henson, a longtime friend of Clark’s, said his death is an “absolute tragedy,” but he believes his friend will be remembered for the good he imparted to those around him.
“The memory of him and who he was and everything he did, I think, is going to be carried forward in all of the people that he’s helped, influenced and changed,” said Henson, who said he’s known Clark for almost 30 years, meeting as young adults in Victoria, B.C.
“His legacy is not in something financial or anything like that, but in the lives that he impacted while he was here with us.”
Henson says Clark had deep ties to Ukraine. He had moved to the country with the goal of opening a bed and breakfast, and was living there when the Russia-Ukraine war broke out in 2022.
In the early days of the conflict, Clark opened his apartment in Lviv — near the nation’s western border — to those fleeing the country on their way to Poland. Posts about Clark’s death on Facebook contain a handful of comments from Ukrainians he aided in his time overseas, describing him as an incredibly kind and compassionate person.
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“Those messages that are coming from Ukrainians are pretty telling — that’s the kind of guy he was,” said Henson. “He just was always there for everybody. Wanted to help out as much as he could.
“If he saw a need, he would fill that need.”
Henson said that despite not having any children of his own, Clark was a family man who cared deeply for his brother, sister and mother. He was amazing with kids and formed a deep bond with his niece and nephew.
“He would talk about them a lot,” said Henson. “He’d go visit them before he was living (in High Level). It was a big thing for him.”
Clark had owned the Prestwick home for at least 15 years, but Henson said he doesn’t believe Clark was living there at the time of his death. Henson said since Clark returned from Ukraine, he’d been living with his brother in High Level and would stay with friends or family when he’d visit Calgary.
“If he was there, it certainly wasn’t to cause a confrontation . . . It wouldn’t have been him being aggressive with a person,” said Henson.
Henson said Clark’s manufacturing job in High Level was mostly a means to an end — as was his rental income — with his aim being to return to his work overseas.
“Everything that he was doing here was to get him to be able to go back to what he was doing in Ukraine,” said Henson.
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