Dona
Clark
deactivated
Dona Clark was born Dona Yvonne Hartman on 3/25/1929 in Long Beach California to Emerson and Mary Hartman. Her parents divorced sometime after, and Dona was sent to The Black Hills of South Dakota to live with her grandmother, Mary Carr. Within a few years her mother remarried to Bill Dean and Mom was adopted and became Dona Dean. She grew up with her new family in Indianapolis and welcomed a little brother, Bill and sister Roberta. After graduating high school, she went to school at Butler University. There she joined the Pi Phi sorority and was dispatched to Davis & Elkins College in West Virginia to create a new chapter there. She graduated with a degree in journalism. She went to work as an operator for the phone company in Chicago where she met a recent college graduate on a blind date. This man was George Clark and would become her husband and the love of her life for 51 years.
After marrying January 11 of 1952, they settled in South Bend, Indiana. There in 1955 their first-born Christine was added to the family. A little more than a year later in 1956 Thomas was born. In 1959 George decided to move the family to California and we landed in San Mateo for a short time. George bought the Clark Door Company from his brother Ray and hired him on as the sales manager. There her daughter Mary was born in 1960.
Later in 1960 the family was moved to the Lindenwood district of Atherton where they set up a permanent home that they lived in until 1987. The entire family was very active in the Menlo Park Presbyterian Church where Dona developed lifelong friendships with neighbors, church friends and her kids’ friends and families. Dona sang in the Chancel Choir for 25 years there. Dona was also very active in volunteer work. She was the PTA president at Laurel Elementary School and was active in the Junior League as well as Allied Arts. Later Dona was a docent at Stanford University Art Museum and took some art classes there as well.
By 1987 Dona and George had an empty nest, so they packed up and moved to Tahoe City to a beautiful house on Lake Tahoe. They stayed there for 3 years and then decided they missed the Bay Area and their friends & family so they moved back to Menlo Park. They lived near Menlo College and enjoyed being back in the Bay Area. George began having problems with the stairs a few years later so they packed up and moved to Sun City in Lincoln, Ca. George passed in 2004 and Dona eventually sold the Lincoln home and moved to assisted living/memory care first in Sunnyvale, then to Stockton. The final 4 years she lived in a residential care home in the town of Rio Vista where Chris lives as well.
She adored her children, Chris, Tom & Mary. Her grandchildren Nathan, Emily & Victoria who knew her as Meema and her great grandchildren, Isaiah & Savanna called her Gigi.
Dona left us all a legacy of love.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Alzheimers fund in Dona's name.
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