SAN ANTONIO – A San Antonio man was laid to rest on what would have been his 23rd birthday Tuesday, nearly two years after he drowned off a Port Aransas beach.
The somber homecoming was a long time coming for Patrick Clark's family.
"I'm happy, sad, all in one," said Clark's mom, Letisha Clark King.
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Clark's family felt mixed emotions at MeadowLawn Cemetery as crews turned the dirt on his final resting place.
"It's a relief. (It's) been something we've been praying on. God did it on his time," Clark King said.
Tragedy struck Clark's family on Independence Day 2015.
Clark was last seen in the water with some friends when he went under and never came back up.
His body was found two weeks later, but not positively identified until last year.
The remains were mistaken for that of a Jane Doe, a woman who was also missing in the coastal area, and were buried in Aransas Pass.
On Monday, Clark's remains were exhumed and brought to San Antonio. The exhumation was paid for by Resthaven Funeral Home in Sinton.
"That was a pain I wouldn't put on nobody. It was a good thing, but it hurt," Clark King said.
The drowning victim's tight-knit family is now trying to spare others from similar pain.
"Just educate yourself before you go to the beach," Clark King said. "Learn about the rip currents, because we knew nothing about that. And I think if we did know about it, we would have had a different outcome."
Clark's family said they'll take things one day at a time while raising the daughter Clark never got to meet.
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