Helen Lenore Clark

Helen Lenore Clark IOWA CITY, Iowa--Helen Lenore Clark, 93, of Iowa City died peacefully on Thursday, June 13, 2013, at Mercy Hospice after a brief illness. Funeral Service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, June 24, 2013, at the Lensing Funeral Home, 605 Kirkwood Avenue in Iowa City. Burial will take place at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, June 24, 2013, at Columbus City Cemetery. Visitation will be from 12:00 Noon until 1 p.m. on Monday, June 24, 2013, at the funeral home. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that memorials be directed to the Presbyterian Church (USA) of Columbus Junction or to a nonprofit of their choice. Helen was born on March 12, 1920, in rural Columbus Junction, the daughter of Henry J. and Rose Lenore Dorrel Oak. She was married to Robert Clark on September 9, 1943. After an eight-week certification course at Iowa Wesleyan, she started her long career as a teacher at the age of eighteen in a one-room country school, Old Clifton. Thereafter, Helen taught for over three decades, devoting most of her career to fifth graders in the Louisa-Muscatine school district at Grandview. Helen retired at sixty-two but continued to work as a tireless volunteer ...[more]

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the Columbus Community School District. She was a passionate advocate for early childhood education and for fair pay for teachers. Helen lived in Columbus Junction until moving to Iowa City in 2005. Helen is survived by her three sons and their families, Edward Clark of El Paso, Texas, Donald and Joy Clark of Columbus Junction, and Ron Clark and Jody Hovland of Iowa City; six grandsons; three great-grandsons; and one great-granddaughter. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband; and all four of her siblings, Howard Oak, Donald Oak, Lucille MacDonald, and Ralph Oak.