Dorothy Clark

For:

Dorothy Clark

January 20, 2018

1:00pm

Finley Sunset Hills Funeral Home

INTRODUCTION

Every LIFE has a STORY. Just like a BOOK, each person’s LIFE gets written from beginning to end.

Word for word, chapter by chapter, the narrative unfolds to both entertain & inspire us. If you’re anything like me, you look for a really good plot, a memorable setting & a main character that could clearly be a HEROINE. Mostly, you hope the BOOK is so good that you can’t stop reading it. And to say in the end: “Wow! That was a page turner. One of my finest reads.”

Dorothy Clark’s LIFE STORY was exactly like a favorite BOOK you’ll never forget and want to completely recommend to others.

Today, the pages of Dorothy Clark’s captivating LIFE is inked forever on your hearts from cover to cover.

OPENING SONG

Let’s begin our time together with the song, MOON RIVER, one Dorothy herself requested be used for her service. Her neighbor Alison Retz will sing it for us. MOON RIVER was doubly special to Dorothy because her twin daughters used to sing it in two-part harmony.

DORTHY’S LIFE STORY

CHILDHOOD

CHAPTER ONE begins when little Dorothy was born in the early winter on November 8, 1926. She was born in Redlands CA when her parents, Carrie and Chub Warren were visiting her maternal grandparents. But Dorothy always liked to think of herself as a 3rd generation native Oregonian. Dorothy’s ‘home on the range’ was a wheat ranch located just southwest of Pendleton OR. The scene of her childhood was living in a home that had no phone or electricity. Her playground was acres of hills with sagebrush and rim rocks to explore on foot or horseback. Being so isolated on the farm as an only child with not many neighbors for miles around, Dorothy entertained herself by having a little TEA PARTY with her horse, her cat and her dogs. She herself said: “They were faithful friends who didn’t argue, tattle or bite, except in self-defense. “

She had to learn to milk the cows and feed the chickens and gather their eggs and she did it, a child who contributed to the demands of farm life. Fortunately, her dad’s brothers all had adjacent farms so Dorothy had many cousins that were her human companions and fulfilled her desire for peer connection.

As a child, since there was no television, they listened to the radio. The family enjoyed listening to ORPHAN ANNIE. Dorothy told about how she always called it ‘ARF and ANNIE’ because it sounded like the same word her dog said: ‘ARF! ‘

She attended school in a one-room schoolhouse so typical for the times especially growing up in rural areas. It was quite a distance away. She walked to school and sometimes maybe even rode her horse. The first schoolhouse she attended only had two students. Marilyn stated: “So she had to know all the answers.” At some point she moved to another one-room schoolhouse that had eight students. There, it got a bit more exciting. The teacher had red geraniums on her piano but they strangely kept disappearing. The teacher kept asking the students: “Why are these flowers disappearing?” Then one day, Dorothy thought she saw a red petal under the piano and told the teacher. So the teacher had the two big HUDSON boys lift that piano to see if they could solve the mystery? Well, imagine everyone’s reaction when they lifted it and a packrat jumped out? Those two HUDSON boys dropped that piano lickity split. That day the piano was ruined and the packrat was ruined but the red geraniums once again thrived visibly in a world where there was no harm.

During hay season, Dorothy helped her mother indoors but she also told about how at the age of 15, she drove the hay combine with 30 or so horses attached to it, and how she greased the bearings on the combine.

CHAPTER TWO begins with adolescence. It was time for Dorothy to attend Middle School but it was 17 miles away so she went to board with her aunt and uncle during the school week and looked forward to coming home on weekends. At Pendleton High School, she described herself as really shy, but she made friends there, friendships she was able to maintain her entire life.

Dorothy always loved when her father would ride up on his horse and ask her mother: “Hey sweetheart, want to go for a ride over the hill?” Dorothy always thought this scene was real chivalrous, a true authentic cowboy moment, and nothing could be more romantic.

CHAPTER THREE sees Dorothy finding her niche as a ‘successful college girl.’ She enrolled at Eastern Oregon State College studying there for two years majoring in Elementary Education. Her children told me: “Mom really blossomed in college and again, made lifelong friends. She was so pretty, that she was the princess of the EVENSONG court.”

Dorothy transferred to the University of Oregon where she completed her Bachelor’s degree in Education and also minored in Art. She learned to paint and draw and was good at both of them.

MEETING EVERT & MARRIAGE

CHAPTER FOUR is an incredibly exciting chapter for Dorothy. She meets the man who would eventually become her husband, Evert Clark, on a blind date. They went to a movie called “Frankenstein Meets Laurel & Hardy.” Dorothy said what we all are thinking: “What an un-romantic 1st date that was!”

Dorothy easily fell in love with Evert and his family as they were a fun-loving and boisterous and extremely talkative bunch. Dorothy appreciated the predictable liveliness of the Clark family especially since she had been an only child.

Dorothy and Evert married a year or so later in the sunlight of summer on August 14, 1949 at a Presbyterian Church in Pendleton OR, Dorothy wearing a beautiful wedding gown. She had many bridesmaids—mostly Evert’s sisters.

OCCUPATION

CHAPTER FIVE tells about how in 1948-1949, Dorothy taught her first class in Bend OR. In those days, 4th grade boys played marbles and when the little fellows’ pockets got too full of winnings, they spilled out creating a disturbing clatter on the classroom floor. On those occasions the marbles became the property of the teacher deposited in a jar on her desk. Evert sometimes came to chat after school and while Dorothy was wrapping up for the day, he used the contents of the jar to play marbles with the boys who lingered after schooI. It is said that Evert’s sympathies must have rested with the boys because that is how Dorothy Clark lost all her marbles! The newlyweds lived above a grocery store and their original furniture were fruit crates.

Dorothy’s teaching positions and Evert finishing school with his eventual business in banking were where fate led the Clarks. These included 2nd grade in Shedd, OR and Pendleton, substitute-teaching grades K-8 in Pilot Rock, Burns, Hines, Portland and Beaverton.

When they had spare time, they loved to go fishing, hiking and dancing (although dancing quickly faded for Evert.) Memorable picnics were often on the agenda.

MOTHERHOOD

CHAPTER SIX was momentous for Dorothy. It’s when the children came. First, identical twin girls: Marilyn and Carolyn born five minutes apart and oh how Dorothy loved sewing their clothes and dressing them alike. Ron and Dan rounded out the family by providing male energy: boys who would be talented athletically. Dorothy attended all their football, basketball and track games, and Ron pointed out a side to Dorothy that was not previously mentioned. Ron said: “”Before we went out to play, she’d look at us and say…..’ WIN.” Dorothy told her sons that she’d bake them a pie for every touchdown they scored. Well, she kept good on her promise. Once, Ron and Dan scored seven touchdowns between them during one game alone so technically Dorothy owed them seven pies. Ron and Dan made a deal with her: they went easy on her and told her she only had to make five. Dorothy attended the twins’ choir performances from grade school through high school and beyond. They always were a two-part harmony.

Dorothy and Evert raised their large family in the Hayhurst neighborhood, a quiet little jewel of a place in SW Portland.

Dorothy was a woman who fought for her children. She became an advocate for her left-handed daughter Marilyn when the teacher demanded she write with her non-dominant hand. She went to bat for Ron when he was in a class of kids who weren’t the best influence to see if she could get him moved into a healthier peer group.

She was a woman who always spoke well of everybody. She never swore. She never once told a lie.

FAMILY ADVENTURES

CHAPTER SEVEN is all about family adventures. Ron stated: “We’d go as a family to Yellowjacket Lake in Eastern Oregon. Dorothy, she was competitive. She always wanted to catch the most fish.” Dan added: “We did a lot of camping. Dad would announce ‘we’re going’ and Dorothy would scramble & hustle to get everything ready. She had to organize it all and dad did nothing. All he did was get his keys and quickly go out to the car and say I’LL GO START THE HORN. Mom didn’t mind it though: all the planning that needed to go into a spur of the moment camping trip.”

Carrie spoke about how Dorothy was incredibly resourceful. “Once while camping, she made a little solar oven to bake bread.”

She was a scout leader to her children…. The BLUEBIRDS leader for the girls.

Carrie said: “Everyone wanted to be in our group because mom was so creative with the activities she would come up with.” Dorothy then functioned in the role of CUB SCOUT Den leader for the boys.

THE LIBRARIAN & BOOK LOVER

CHAPTER EIGHT informs us how much Dorothy Clark loved BOOKS & READING more than words can say. When her own children were growing to be more independent, she pursued her certification at PSU in library science and media. Dan said: “She went back to school when she thought we were old enough to handle ourselves….was she fooled.”

Dorothy then began a 21-year career as a librarian, 14 of those at Butternut School in Beaverton where she retired from.

Becoming a librarian was a perfect fit for her. Dorothy was a person who also wrote short stories. One was about a little deer and she even illustrated it. Marilyn shared: “Because I was also in the field of education, every year she gave me for my birthday, two books: the one that was the Newbury winner for the year and the one that was the Caldecott winner. Sometimes they were even signed by the author. What a meaningful gift that was to me!”

BAKER

CHAPTER NINE illustrates how Dorothy was known for her baking skills. Thursdays were apparently designated as BAKING DAY. The children would arrive home to find the dining room table loaded with baked goods. Dorothy also had a vast collection of cookie cutters for different seasons. The cookie jar was never empty. It is said that no matter how hard they tried, no one in the family could ever duplicate her orange rolls, cinnamon rolls or potato salad.

THE STATE BIRDS & FLOWER QUILT

CHAPTER TEN tells about a meaningful project that would become a lifelong one for Dorothy. At the age of 13, she sent away for embroidery squares featuring the state bird and state flower for every state in the United States. She worked on embroidering them for seven decades or more , with her daughter’s assistance. Dorothy finally completed it a few years before her death and how fitting that it is here today in it’s completion.

GREAT NEIGHBOR

CHAPTER ELEVEN speaks about how people loved having Dorothy Clark as a neighbor. Some neighbors took time to write a sympathy note on Dorothy’s passing. Here’s what a few people had to say….

• Sandi Green from Portland OR wrote: “The short amount of time I was blessed by knowing you, I wish it could have been longer. Thank you for that! You were so sweet and so loved. “

• Orestes wrote: “I am heartbroken to hear of Dorothy’s passing. But I remind myself I had the gift of twenty rich years. Being right next door to one of the kindest, most caring and most gentle souls to ever walk the planet. She was truly Sophia’s other grandma and Dana’s anchor during her first months in Oregon. We all loved her enormously.”

GRANDCHILDREN

CHAPTER TWELVE sees Dorothy dreaming of becoming a grandmother. Dorothy told people she thought she’d never have grandchildren but she was eventually blessed with Cameron, Cayla, John, Christa and Bailey each with their own memories.

She babysat John when he was young and looked forward to any opportunity to visit the others in Montana with the intention to also babysit and get to know them well.

Dorothy and the family survived the loss of her first great grand child Marigold and the family was soon blessed with a second great grandchild, Katarina.

RETIREMENT

In CHAPTER THIRTEEN Dorothy Clark retires from her decades of working in the field of education on June 10, 1991. The children and staff at Butternut School made her a scrapbook of gratitude and good wishes. So many wrote about what she meant to them as a teacher and librarian.

Here is a sampling of what the staff and children said about working with her….

• I could always count on your smile and cheerful attitude.

• Your pleasant disposition will always linger in me.

• For me you have been a woman to admire for your quiet calm manner and your knowledge of children’s books.

• You are a most gracious lady. I will miss your gorgeous floral displays from your garden. Who’s going to bring the gorgeous iris to school in the spring?

• Thank you for the wonderful book memories you planted in the minds of your Butternut students.

• I will always remember you for your gift of storytelling. What a talent you have for sharing with others.

• I always enjoyed your ability to enjoy every child—the pills as well as the angels!

One teacher shared a poem so fitting for Dorothy.

There are loyal hearts, there are spirits brave,

There are souls that are pure and true;

Give to the world the best you have,

And the best will come back to you.

Give love, and love to your life will flow,

A strength in your utmost need;

Have faith and a score of hearts will show

Their faith in your word and deed.

Give truth, and your gift will be paid in kind,

And honor will honor meet,

And a smile that is sweet will surely find

A smile that is just as sweet.

But a little boy named Aaron Martin perhaps said it the best. He wrote a poem called “Mrs. Clark and the Library. Dorothy, this one’s for you.

If we read like Mrs. Clark,

We will become like her—she’s smart!

She can read much better than Bart,

And her choices are very smart.

Without Mrs. Clark,

Our library will be dark.

The sun is shining brighter than bright,

But Mrs. Clark is the brightest light.

Mrs. Clark is nice and kind,

Better than the roses of mine.

Mrs. Clark’s books are good to read,

And to her movies, we will take heed.

This poem is really too long,

But it’s a poem not a song.

Library is fun,

But without Mrs. Clark, it will be dumb.

Dorothy took up painting and traveling in her retirement. She ventured to many places with Evert: Boston, Australia, Hawaii, Arizona, and Washington DC. And often always to Montana to visit her grandchildren. She belonged to a GARDEN CLUB and enjoyed her time-spent with beloved BOOKS at her side.

LOSING EVERT

CHAPTER FIFTEEN was a very sad one for Dorothy when she lost her beloved Evert in 2014. Marilyn was already living in their home so Dorothy had daily support and didn’t have to be alone with her grief.

A FEW FINAL SPECIAL RANDOM OTHER THINGS

• When her children were grown, three of them went off to live in Montana. Dorothy never flinched. She was a mother who supported her children’s vision.

• Dorothy loved the color PINK and never looked at the color BLUE.

• She devoured books by Nevil Shute cherishing his stories of Post World War II, Willa Cather’s words about frontier life on the Great Plains, and local writer Molly Gloss’ works on historical and science fiction especially ‘The Jump-Off Creek’ because it was about a woman homesteading on her own near Pendleton ’ Her hospice volunteer would read to her, books by Ivan Doig, about the landscape and people of the American West.

• She left this world just as she had lived----immensely frugal, her wallet still full of coupons. She never threw anyway anything.

• She leaves behind a vast collection of SALT & PEPPER shakers-- many inherited from her parents, decades old.

• But here’s the thing that mesmerized me: her children said unanimously: “It was so easy to be close to her.”

END OF LIFE

The final CHAPTER of Dorothy Clark ‘s life is the moment she departed from this world on January 9, 2018 at the age of 91. Her huge heart had just got worn out from loving so much. In the words of her children: “She passed away in the house Evert built for her surrounded by her children.” How perfect that was--- Dorothy so comfortable on her final day in the little red house that Evert built. Up until the very end and even the day before she passed away, Ron made her laugh and her eyes were as beautiful as ever, and she still had her perfect smile. Yes. Dorothy Clark left this world smiling.

Her children told me they sat on their mother’s bed, cracked jokes and said to her over and over again: “I love you,” to which Dorothy always replied: “ I love you more.” Apparently this string of moving words was often exchanged between Dorothy and her four devoted children. “I love you. I love you more.”

Today we take comfort knowing she is reunited with Evert. The rusty fishing poles have been refurbished and he is probably saying: “Get packing and “I’LL GO START THE HORN.” I know for certain she probably took some new library books packed under her arm to read right there in the campground.

DORTHY’S LEGACY

I am giving each of you TWO things to carry home with you to remember Dorothy.

• The first is a cookie cutter in the shape of a heart. The loss of her has left a huge hole within you but remember you can always fill it with your wonderful most tender memories. Dorothy gave herself in the sweetest ways including always having cookies in the cookie jar waiting for you. Continue what she started: share the sweetest parts of yourself with one another for the rest of your lives. Her spirit will be alive in every interaction between you, any time you choose LOVE like she did.

• The second is a BOOKMARK with a poem that reads:

You may have fabulous wealth untold,

Baskets of silver,

Boxes of gold.

But richer than I,

You will never be.

I had a mother,

Who read to me.

I thought about Dorothy’s legacy, and these words came to me. Dorothy Clark was always an OPEN BOOK TEACHING YOU HOW TO LIVE. Maybe she can forever now be ‘your little bookmark’ to help you mark your place in the book of life.

I have one last thing to say and this is to Dorothy:

“On behalf of your four children who adored you, please carry their words with you forever.

When all is said and done, “ We Love You More!”