Obituary of Ronald V.G Clarke

Ronald Victor Gemuseus Clarke passed peacefully on May 28, 2025 with his wife at his bedside.  

Ron was born on April 24, 1941 in Tanzania.  His mother, Barbara Gemuseus was a German missionary dentist and his father, Henry Clarke, was a British road engineer.  Ron had an older sister, Veronica, and a younger brother, Robin.  Ron lived in Tanzani until he was 10 years old; he learned some Swahili, flew to school in a bush plane and even helped care for a baby elephant that had gotten stuck in one of the newly laid roads.  Amazing stories from his childhood entertained his children and grandchildren.  

At 10, Ronnie moved to Teignmouth on the Southwestern coast of England.  He attended grammar school and later Bristol University.  He went on to get a PhD in psychology from London University.

Ronnie met his wife Sheelagh at a dance when he was a student.  They married on August 19, 1966.  They had a joyful marriage and raised three children in Wimbledon.  In 1987 they moved to New Jersey and have lived in Millburn/Maplewood ever since.

Ron was a pioneering criminologist whose work transformed the field of crime prevention and criminological theory.  Ron spent fifteen years with the British government’s Home Office Research and Planning unit.   He served as the Dean of the School of Criminal Justice at Rutgers University from 1984 to 1998.  He mentored dozens of graduate students and published extensively, over 300 books in total, helping to shape the next generation of scholars and practitioners.  In his later years, he combined his lifelong love of wildlife and birds with his expertise in criminology to help establish a Center for Conservation Criminology.  In 2015, Ron won the Stockholm Prize in Criminology, the highest award in the field. 

Ron traveled extensively for work, and wherever he went he always had a camera to photograph the birds of the region. 

Ron regularly attended church at St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church, 119 Main St. in Millburn. The family will be recieving friends in the Common Room on June 21st from 9:30-11 with a service at 11am.

Ron is survived by his wife, Sheelagh, his brother, Robin (Santa Cruz, Bolivia), his son and daughter in law Dr. Henry and Michelle Clarke (Scottsdale, AZ), his son and daughter in law, Dr. George and Dr. Angela Clarke (Arlington, VA), his daughter and son in law, Marianne and Peter Bredlau, and seven grandchildren, Alex, Tristan, River, Evie, Tom, Dash and Daisy.  

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a fellowship at Rutgers in his name:  https://give.rutgersfoundation.org/ron-v-clarke/20524.html