Harriet L. Clark's Obituary
Harriet Clark went to be with her Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, June 13, 2020. She died within 17 days of discovering she had cancer. She was born in Farribault, MN on March 6, 1931 and was the second of three girls. For the first 12 years of her life she grew up on an 80 acre farm, where she learned the value of hard work and harsh conditions. She told me she would take a glass of water up to her bedroom at night and by morning it was frozen solid. The term freeze dried to her meant how they dried the clothes in winter, not a food preservation method.
The farm era of her life came to an end when the family moved into the city where her father found other work. She contracted polio during the epidemic and spent 6 weeks in the hospital, and then finished recuperating at home during her high school years.
She graduated high school at the tender age of seventeen and decided that she needed to move far away to avoid marrying a farmer. That decision brought her to Sumner, Washington where she stayed with her sister’s family until she was able to finish her secretarial training at Bates Vocational Technical Institute in Tacoma. She then moved into her own apartment in Tacoma where she had many different and wonderful room mates with whom she maintained contact with up until her death. This was also when she joined Zion Lutheran Church and became active in the Walther League, which was the young adult group at the church. Through a friend in this group, she was introduced to John C Clark, whom she eventually married on June 14, 1957. She remained active at Zion throughout her entire life.
The first bouncing bundle of joy was a boy, David John Clark, who joined their family March 30, 1958. Two years later he had a sister, Suzanne Carol (Clark) Thorne. Jack, as his friends called him, took an additional job painting at St. Joseph’s Hospital so Harriet could stay home and take care of their little family. She slowly eased back into the work field when Suzanne was old enough to go to school and eventually Jack was able to work just one job as a fireman. Harriet had several different employers including Federal Savings & Loan and the Tacoma Public schools. Throughout the children’s growing years, they spent many family vacations and holidays together.
The kids eventually left home and started their own families and then they became active grandparents. They spent as much time as they were able with their grandchildren - even driving to Colville once a year to see Suzanne’s children after they moved.
Harriet retired from the Tacoma Public Schools in 1986, and then they begin their vacation-filled golden years. They were very active in a church organization called “Laborers for Christ”, where they traveled throughout the United States to help Lutheran church build or remodel churches and schools. This was a treasured time of their lives where they both grew closer to their Savior. In addition to their missionary trips, they went on local camping trips in their trailer as well as traveled overseas to see parts of Europe. They turned into snowbirds, spending winters in Arizona in their fifth wheel where they often met up with Harriet’s sisters, Verna Berghoff and Ethel Mattson.
Harriet’s hobbies included knitting, sewing, quilting and camping. Her sewing progressed from sewing her families clothes in order to save money to buying new material to create beautiful quilts. Many family members were the recipient of a quilt as a graduation or wedding gift. She even entered some of her quilts into the Puyallup fair where she won many ribbons for her fine work.
Harriet was preceded in death by her husband, John C Clark and grandson Michael S Randall. Survivors include children, David J Clark and Suzanne C Thorne; sisters Verna Berghoff and Ethel Mattson; grandchildren Jennifer C Rollis, Joshua E Randall, Christopher J Randall, Jordan Clark, Sarah J Randall, and Brittney Clark; and great grandchildren Abigail M Rollis and Ashlyn M Rollis. Services will be held at Zion Lutheran Church at 3410 6th Avenue in Tacoma at 1:00 pm July 5, 2020.
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