Harry Edward Clarke

Harry Edward Clarke was born on October 16, 1929 in Cut Knife, Saskatchewan and passed away on July 13, 2025, in Vernon, B.C., at the age of 95. In Harry’s own words he was ‘born near the famous battle of Cut Knife Hill.’

Harry was a fraternal twin with George Clarke, so he was the fourth, after his twin, in the line of eight children born to George and Nelly Clarke.

Harry is survived by his wife Reta Clarke (nee Wright), his brother Chuck (Mary) Clarke and his sister Jenny (Bob) Schram. He was predeceased by his sister Gwendoline Garlick, his brother Jim Clarke, his fraternal twin George Clarke, his sister Lillian Hein, and his brother Ben Clarke.

Harry met his wife Reta at a dance social in Vermilion, AB where Reta (originally from Meadowvale, NS) was teaching. At the time they met, Harry was pursuing ranching, but soon realized that he didn’t enjoy the cold Alberta winters, so he moved to Coldstream, B.C. where his family had already moved, to enjoy the warmer Okanagan.

It was in Vernon, on October 16, 1956, that Harry and Reta were married. Harry chose to marry Reta on his birthday so he would never forget his anniversary. It must have worked as they were married nearly 69 years.

Harry and Reta finished building their Coldstream home in 1959 and happily resided in it until May 2019 when they moved to Coldstream Meadows Retirement Community. Even before living at Coldstream Meadows, Harry had history with the place. Harry was a founding member of the Coldstream Fire Department (he was a member for 25 years,) and he remembered one call out to the old Coldstream Meadows building. The old building, (now closed,) was once a boys school and some of the boys had been down in the basement smoking behind the wood pile. The wood pile caught fire and Harry remembered how the abundance of smoke made visibility poor. Thankfully the smoke was the worst of it and the fire was easily extinguished. In later years, Harry and Reta would often walk from their home down to ‘The Meadows’ and sometimes even had a meal there. Harry often talked about how he would like to live there someday.

Harry enjoyed many pursuits like pitching horseshoes, fishing, golfing – especially with Bob, traveling (they received a voucher for doing 71 tours/445 days with Wells Gray tours), curling (his team won the senior league B league in 1988/89,) and dancing. For many years Harry and Reta were part of the Halina Pattern Dancers and they performed frequently around the area; hopefully you were favored to see them perform. Also on his regular schedule were the Old Time Dances at Enderby Drill Hall where Harry was president for 25 years. One main duty of being president was to set the program for the night, creating the dance line up. These dances were open to all and Harry especially loved helping new people partake in these pattern dances from all over the world.

Once a month you’d find Harry in the Halina Centre kitchen cooking up sausages for the pancake breakfast, while Reta would be serving the food. Harry developed quite a sausage cooking system.

Harry and Reta spent time every summer in Nova Scotia with Reta’s family at their own cottage on Mill Lake. They loved spending those times with family, enjoying (and playing) the ‘down home’ music, the dancing and seafood.

Harry retired from the VID (Vernon Irrigation District) on July 30, 1987. Harry (number 333) had worked for the District of Coldstream from 1956 to 1966, and then for the Vernon District until his retirement in 1987. When driving with him through Coldstream and Vernon, Harry enjoyed sharing stories about the different irrigation jobs he had worked.

Harry was a kind, generous, hard working man who loved his wife Reta very much. He also enjoyed fixing up his home, volunteering and spending time with family and friends, (both old ones and new ones.) Harry was authentic – what you saw was what you got. He rarely took himself too seriously and could easily laugh at himself. He is remembered by many in the neighbourhood for his independence, his willingness to help a neighbour and for his large dahlia garden. He will be greatly missed by his family, friends and neighbours.

A big thank you to the many staff of Vernon Jubilee Hospital who gave such wonderful care to Harry in his last weeks.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation to a charity of your choice.

A Celebration of Life will be held for Harry on Friday, August 8, 2025 at 11:00 AM at Trinity United Church (3300 Alexis Park Dr, Vernon, BC V1T 2N2). A light snack and refreshments will be provided immediately following the service. Following the reception, there will be a committal service from 2:00 PM to 2:30 PM at Coldstream Cemetery, 7600 Howe Dr, British Columbia, BC V1B 1G9.