Dr. Robert Cluck, the former Arlington mayor who brought the Dallas Cowboys to the city, died Tuesday. He was 87.
“Arlington has lost a true visionary… ” Mayor Jim Ross said in an obituary published on the city’s website. “His ability to build partnerships and see the community’s future potential fundamentally changed our trajectory. We are a more vibrant, competitive, and world-class city today because of his bold leadership and belief in Arlington.”
Cluck was born in Cisco on March 20, 1939, and attended Southern Methodist University, followed by The University of Texas Southwestern Medical School. He served two years as a general medical officer in the U.S. Air Force during the Vietnam War and was stationed in the Philippines.
He served as Arlington’s mayor from 2003 to 2015.
His intro into politics came after he was injured in a motorcycle accident, forcing him to pause practice as an obstetrician-gynecologist, Cluck said in a video interview he did with the city.
“I go to work every day convinced I can help a lot of people. A lot of people achieve the American dream,” he said in the video.
As a prominent North Texas public health advocate, Cluck served as vice president of medical management at Harris Methodist Health Plan in Fort Worth, medical director at Arlington Memorial Hospital, and during his mayoral tenure, vice president of medical affairs at Texas Health Resources Arlington Memorial Hospital.
In 2010, he launched “Let’s Move with the Mayor” as an incentive for Arlington ISD students to get outside during the summer. Each student pledged to walk 10,000 steps a day, and the three walkers with the most steps attended a Texas Rangers game with Cluck. He was also responsible for CPaRlignton, a program focused on improving cardiac arrest survival and implementation of the Public Access Defibrillator program. His work was noticed in 2011 when he received the President’s Council on Fitness, Sports and Nutrition Community Leadership Award.
A conversation with Jerry Jones in 2001 on a possible new home for the Cowboys, while Cluck sat on the City Council, led to the creation of AT&T Stadium in 2009. Six years later, Jones named the stadium’s atrium in his honor – Mayor Robert N. Cluck Atrium.
Arlington’s 73.8-acre Dr. Robert Cluck Linear Park opened in 2011 as a tribute to his influence on the city’s development. He organized the Texas Cities for Clean Air Coalition and brought neighboring mayors together to discuss air quality issues, followed by actions to make Arlington greener and reduce the city’s carbon footprint.
According to the city’s website, Cluck served on many boards and commissions, including the North Texas Super Bowl XLV Host Committee, Salvation Army Youth Education Town Advisory Council, The Women’s Shelter Board, Junior League of Arlington Advisory Board, Arlington Convention and Visitors Bureau, Arlington Technology Incubator and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives – Local Governments for Sustainability.
Cluck is survived by his wife, Linda; daughters, Katherine Cluck Williams and Jennifer Cluck Bills; son, Robert Cluck, III; and grandchildren, Lindsay Hardesty, Robert Austin Williams, Michaela Cluck and Payton Cluck.