Jacqueline "Jackie" Clark

Jacqueline Clark died Sunday, April 2, 2017, at Houston Hospice. Born February 23, 1941, in DeKalb, Illinois, she was the daughter of the late Luther and Lena Ross Clark, a steelworker and a seamstress.

Jackie attended Waukegan High School in Illinois and then set off to Boston to enroll at the only school to which she applied, M.I.T. She attended on a math scholarship.

It was 1958, a time when only a few women attended M.I.T. and a full five years before the first women’s dormitory at the school was even completed. While at M.I.T., Jackie made important contributions to ongoing research of mathematical analysis of geophysical problems.

She met her future husband, Stephen Simpson, in 1960 while in Boston. She vividly remembered the first time they met. It was January, and Steve burst into the lab wearing galoshes, the rubbery kind that came half way up the leg, a big coat and a hat with flaps over the ears. The two started dating that summer.

Her mom flew in from Illinois after they were engaged, and Steve picked her up at the airport in a black 1951 Chevy.

Jackie’s mom was not impressed. “Is that his best car?”

Math was not Jackie’s sole passion. She was also a singer, and she later attended the New England Conservatory, earning a degree in voice and music theory in 1972. A few years later and well before the advent of the personal computer and dedicated application software, Stephen and Jackie were one of the very few in the country to have a state-of-the-art computer system installed in the basement of their home. This gave Jackie the opportunity to combine her skills by programming the computer to create original music.

She was also a gourmet chef, and an avid reader who was a greatly appreciated source of reading recommendations for family members.

Jackie was predeceased by a brother, Graydon Clark, a sister Betty Jo Clark, a sister-in-law Grace Watters, and her lifelong companion and former spouse, Anne Simpson.

Jackie and Anne were pioneers in the gender revolution.

“How much I liked and loved the man - it’s hard to find terms to think about it that honors me and him and her.”

Jackie moved to Houston in 1980 to be closer to her mom, sister and Anne. She had a long and successful career in the geophysical and computer technology fields. A co-worker has many fond memories of working with Jackie at CogniSeis. Jackie worked for a time at Halliburton and sang with the Houston Masterworks Chorus.

Jackie is survived by her former sisters-in-law Marjorie Manuel and Ruth Woodcock, and nine nieces and nephews and their spouses. She was loved and admired by family members and will be deeply missed.