1943 - 2006
Oak Creek resident Elizabeth Ann Clark died Nov. 7, 2006, at Yampa Valley Medical Center in Steamboat Springs. She was 63.
Elizabeth was born to Julian and Mable Lewis on Sept. 15, 1943, in Crandall, Miss. She lived in Mississippi until the age of 12, when her family moved to Oregon. Elizabeth was baptized April 16, 1960, at the Roseburg Assembly of God. In the spring of 1961, she graduated from Roseburg High School, and that fall she attended Southwestern Bible College in Oklahoma City, Okla. At Southwestern she met Robert William Clark. On Dec. 21, 1962, she and Robert were married at the Roseburg Assembly of God - thus ending the Lewis and Clark Expedition and making it just the Clark Expedition - even though Robert almost did not make it. After having car trouble on the trip from California to Oregon and breaking down in Bakersfield, Calif., he took a bus to Roseburg to make it there just a couple hours before they were to get married.
Elizabeth would like to tell people - after being married and having children - that she went to Southwestern to obtain her "Mrs." degree and that she obtained this degree even though she never graduated.
After Robert graduated from Southwestern in 1963, they moved to Las Cruces, N.M., where they started their pastoral ministry together. In July 1966, they moved to Denver to pastor the Evans Avenue Pentecostal Holiness Church. They made the move in spite of Elizabeth being six months pregnant and it being the hottest part of the summer. On Oct. 19, 1966, their first son, Remick "Micky" William Clark, was born. On Jan. 5, 1970, their second son, Ryan Wade Clark, was born. After 12 years at Evans Avenue, God called Robert and Elizabeth to Springfield in September 1978.
For more than 41 years of ministry - with almost 26 of them in Springfield - Elizabeth was a pastor's wife, store owner, school custodian, Sunday school teacher, nursery helper, children's church teacher, mother, spiritual mother, grandmother and friend to hundreds of people.
Elizabeth made lasting relationships during this time that she cherished dearly.
On May 23, 2004, Robert and Elizabeth retired from the pastoral ministry and moved to Oak Creek. Elizabeth quickly made friends in Oak Creek and at the Steamboat Christian Center. Elizabeth and Robert enjoyed their freedom and made the most of it by visiting as many people as they could.
Up until the time Elizabeth died, she was always more concerned about how others were doing than her own problems. Elizabeth was the most giving person you would ever know and truly shared the love and joy of Jesus Christ with everyone. She especially loved children and never passed up the opportunity to bless a child. Her grandchildren, Rebecca and Rylan Clark, were the brightest jewels in her already bright crown. She made sure that everyone knew that she had the best grandkids in the world - she carried the photos to prove it. Wife, mother, grandmother and friends were all very good descriptions of Elizabeth Clark, but the best description would be the word Christian. She loved the Lord so much and gave so much of her life to Him.
She was preceded in death by her niece, Teresa; her sisters, Joyce Smith and Sue Adams; her father, Julian Lewis; her mother, Mable Lewis; and her brother-in-law, Ed Adams.
She is survived by her husband, Robert; her sons, Micky and his wife, Heidi Clark, and Ryan Clark; her brother, James Louis; her grandchildren, Rebecca and Rylan Clark; numerous nieces and nephews; and many other friends and relatives who grieve her passing but rejoice in knowing that she is with the Lord.
Her memorial service was held Nov. 11, 2006, at Trinity Church in Springfield. The service was led by the Rev. Paul Clark and his wife, Verna, and the Rev. LaVon Thompson and his wife, Sammie.
