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Though Clarence Arceneaux grew up in Texas and lived much of his adult life in El Cerrito, it was Berkeley, the city where he fed the homeless every month for nearly twenty years, that grieved for him Thursday. 

A devoted member of the Church By The Side Of The Road at 2109 Russell St. in Berkeley, the man who would work for days every month preparing food for hundreds died of cancer last week. He was 74. 

Arceneaux was a trained carpenter, but it was cooking that stirred his soul. 

“That was his passion,” said Pamela Calloway who is taking over the charity meals. “Not only did he cook for the homeless but sometimes he’d cook just because. It was a way for him to show his love.” 

On June 29 Berkeley bestowed its gratitude for his service, proclaiming Clarence Arceneaux Day in the city. 

Arceneaux grew up in Baytown, Tex. where barbecues and cajun cooking were king. He served in the Korean War and was decorated with the World War II Victory Medal of Honor.  

When he relocated to El Cerrito in 1974 to get his kids into better schools and be closer to his family, Arceneaux immediately set out to serve the poor. For twelve years he packed lunches for the homeless and delivered them to local parks. 

Then while preparing for Thanksgiving dinner 18 years ago, he decided to expand his mission. 

“He wanted to make sure that when he and the rest of the congregation sat down to eat, they could feel good because everyone had a meal,” Calloway said.  

He cooked for about than 300 people inside the church that Thanksgiving. The dinner went so well, he made it a monthly event. 

Arceneaux put everything he had into the dinners. “He’d spend two days cooking day and night, said his son Victor. “He’d go into his own pocket. He made sure he bought the best of everything.” 

The dinner’s didn’t win him a lot of notoriety, but those who he helped never forgot. “I’m still talking to people who tell me they’ve gone to the feed,” Victor said. 

Arceneaux was as dedicated to his church as he was to the homeless. He fixed and tinkered with much of the building on Russell St. and when he grew too old to undertake big projects, he served as a consultant on church construction. 

Reverend Cheryl Ward, who knew Arceneaux when she was a girl, remembered a soft-spoken man who commanded respect, but wasn’t too set in his ways. 

When Ward was first asked to preach at the church, Arceneaux told her he wasn’t wild about female preachers.  

“On the first Sunday I came to preach, he sat in the back and said ‘You better preach good.’ Afterwards he hit me on the shoulder and said, ‘You done good.’’  

Soon Arceneaux lobbied for her to be named interim preacher and last month he asked her to give his eulogy. 

Church member Marian Bartlow put it best: “God took three little fishes and five loaves of bread and he fed the world. Now he has some help.” 

Arceneaux is survived by his wife of 51 years, Elise Arceneaux; five children; twelve grandchildren; three great grandchildren; as well as five sisters and five brothers.