Susan (King) Clarke

Susan King Clarke passed away September 27, 2009 in Greeley, Colorado. Susan was born February 2, 1918 to Judge Dean King and Metta Steere King in Kalispell, Montana. She will be remembered as an artist, conservation proponent, grandmother and wonderful mother. Her most vivid childhood memories involve camping with her family, particularly in beautiful Glacier Park, Montana. She left Montana to attend the Minneapolis School of Art for two years and then the University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. In the early 1940's, she joined the war effort and worked for the U.S. Navy in Kodiak, Alaska before joining the Red Cross and travelling to France, Austria, and then to Germany, where she met her future husband, Oscar W. Clarke M.D. He was the Medical Air Corps director of the hospital in Wiesbadnen, Germany.

Susan and Oscar were married in Petersburg, Virginia in 1949. They moved to Gallipolis, Ohio where they lived for 50 years. During that time they raised three daughters. As well as being a patron of the arts and supporting the French Art Colony, Ariel Theatre, and the Ohio Valley Symphony, Susan designed the family home, which overlooks the Ohio River and hills of West Virginia. Susan also had a passion for travel and she photographed and painted many of the exotic destinations of her travels with Oscar, including Tibet, Peru, Chile, New Zealand, Guatemala, China, and Japan, as well as Ohio and Montana landscapes.

She is survived by her daughter, Jennifer Clarke-Mackessy and her granddaughter, Elizabeth Mackessy both formerly of Greeley, Colorado and now residing in Sydney, Australia; son-in-law, Stephen Mackessy, Greeley, Colorado; son-in-law, Ed Sayre and grandchildren Jimmy Sayre and wife Stacy; Tammy Frasier and husband John; Carrie Sayre and five great-grandchildren, all of Pt. Pleasant, West Virginia and Gallipolis, Ohio; a brother, Jack King and wife Almeda and their children Karen, John, AJ and their families of Kalispell, Montana; and sister-in-law, Willene Clarke Davis, Southern Pines, North Carolina.

Susan was preceded in death by her husband Oscar; two daughters, Susan Stein and Elizabeth Sayre; great-grandchild, Vanessa; son-in-law Richard Stein; brother, Robert King; sister Elizabeth King and her parents.

Visitation will be held Saturday, October 3 from 10:00-12 Noon at the McCoy-Moore Funeral Home, Wetherholt Chapel, 420 1st Ave, Gallipolis, Ohio. Graveside services will be held immediately following at Mound Hill Cemetery with Rev. Tim Luoma of the First Presbyterian Church officiating.