Founder of Aurora bicycle nonprofit dies unexpectedly, daughter says she'll keep shop going

A bike shop in Aurora where anyone could come and get a used bike for free is temporarily closed because the man who was the heart behind it has passed away.

Ernie Clark was the founder and owner of Second Chance Bicycle Shop. He died unexpectedly from a medical emergency on Wednesday.

The shop is his nonprofit that restores and gives away bikes to those in need.

Their favorite project was giving bikes to kids in Aurora for Christmas.

"All he wanted to do was to contribute, make sure kids had a smile face, happy that they got a bike," said his daughter Betty Clark.

Ernie was a police officer in New Jersey for many years. After he retired, he moved to Aurora where he opened his nonprofit. Friends and family say he loved Aurora and the people who live here.

"Ernie was probably one of the most gracious, generous, caring men. One of the few that I've ever met," said Marc Nading.

Nading owns Marc Anthony Flowers which is located next to Second Chance. They were friends and neighbors for five years and he says Ernie was a kind man with a mission.

"He was a man that cared about people in general and that's what he did," said Nading.

Betty Clark says her father's shop was being pushed out of their current location. In July of 2022 CBS News Colorado's Michael Abeyta talked to Ernie about his efforts to find a new space. Betty says her father was desperately looking for that new space and was very stressed out about finding one. She thinks that stress may have contributed to his death.

"He felt like he was pushed up against a wall," she said.

Betty plans to keep Second Chance Open and running. She hopes to find a solution to her father's biggest problem: finding a new space, hopefully in Aurora.

"It's worth staying, but if they're not going to back him up and find a building, we'll go anywhere that will," she said.

She says she knows she has her work cut out for her taking over her father's shop, but it is a promise she made him.

"I already told him when he died that come hell or high water I'm going to keep his shop going," she said.

She says since he father died her family has seen an outpouring of support from the community. Aurora Mayor Mike Coffman posted a statement to social media Friday saying that Ernie will be "greatly missed" and that he "made a difference for countless residents."