Obituary of Bess Clark

Bess Clark passed away peacefully at her daughters home in Leonia on Friday, January 21, at the age of 95 from natural causes. Bess was a beloved and generous spirit who lived her life with dignity, joy and kindness. She grew up in Johnson City, Tennessee and visited New Jersey when she was eighteen. The energy of the north appealed to her adventurous spirit and it became her home. Her mother, Flora, and siblings, Carroll, Joe and Mary, joined her and the County of Morris soon had a corner fun-filled southern gatherings and good times. She met Everett Clark and it was love at first sight. They settled next door to his ancestral home in Mine Hill and raised their three children, Robert, Kathleen and Pamela. 

Bess worked as Head Bookkeeper for the Roxbury Dental Group, Treasurer of Mine Hill Township and was an artist, poet and novelist. Her beautiful novel, Emma`s Joney, is loved by every person who has read it. 

She was passionate about reading and the ocean; she spent as much time as possible at her beloved house at the Jersey Shore. She loved learning and attended college in her sixties to earn her Associates of Arts degree. She was  also, a devoted member of the Mine Hill Presbyterian Church. 

Bess changed lives for the better. The lives of her children, family members and friends all have been, and will continue to be, enriched and enlightened by having Bess as their guide and influence through life. 

She was predeceased by her husband, Everett Clark, in 2012. She will be missed by her children: Robert E. Clark, Kathleen M. Clark, (Richard Frankel) and Pamela L. Clark Damiano (James Damiano), her grandchildren: Clark Frankel (Esther Jackson), Elisabeth Frankel (Eric Schnell) and Josh Frankel (Eve Biddle), Jesse Damiano, Jennifer (Clark) Brennan (Patrick Brennan, Jon (Christine) and Adam Clark, her great grandchildren: Phoenix and Kodiak Biddle Frankel, Eleanor Anne Frankel, Thomas and Kellina Brennan, Adelle Clark and Ella and Benjamin Clark. She will, also, be missed by her beloved nieces and nephews, sister in law Lillian Lyons and brother Joe Lyons. 

An outdoor gathering will take place at the gravesite at the Pleasant Hill Cemetery, 190 Quaker Church Road in Randolph on Friday, January 28 at 12 o`clock noon. All arrangements have been made by Tuttle Funeral Home, Randolph (tuttlefh.com).

Donations in her memory may be made to Leonia Presbyterian Church.