Mary “Kemp” Clarke (nee Jamison), a longtime resident of Riverside, died peacefully, surrounded by her family, on Aug. 1, 2019 at Plymouth Place in LaGrange Park, where she had resided since 2009.
Born in 1933 in Roanoke, Virginia, Kemp, as she was known to her friends, attended Mary Baldwin University in Staunton, Virginia. In 1954, she married the late John L. Clarke who was the founder of Clarke Mosquito Control.
She was an active member of the Riverside Presbyterian Church for more than 50 years and enthusiastically participated in its Women’s Forum. Ms. Clarke enjoyed memberships in the Infant Welfare Society, PEO, Berwyn Garden Club, Riverside Golf Club, and Fortnightly of Chicago.
For 25 straight years, she attended anywhere from two to four weeks of programming at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, and, for the last two years, she was a member of the board of the Presbyterian House at Chautauqua.
She also owned a home in Abbey Springs, Wisconsin, where she loved to entertain friends and family both in her home and at the Abbey Springs Clubhouse. Winters would find her reuniting for a few months with friends in Naples, Florida.
She loved good food and socializing and enjoyed going to movies, symphonies and plays with friends and family. She was an avid sports fan always following not only the Chicago Cubs, Bears, Bulls and Blackhawks but University of Virginia basketball.
Ms. Clarke had a wonderful and generous spirit. She was a keen, some might say fanatical, bridge player.
She is survived by her children, John Lyell, Frank (Cara), Mary Rob and Stuart (Laura), as well as 11 grandchildren, all of whom brought great joy to her life.
A memorial service at Riverside Presbyterian Church will be held on Saturday, Aug. 10 at 11 a.m., followed by a reception at the Riverside Golf Club.
The family appreciates memorial gifts to the Riverside Presbyterian Church for the replacement of its bell tower carillon bells and chimes, the sound of which brought joy and peace to Kemp as well as serenity to all in the community.
Ivins/Moravecek Funeral Home, Riverside, handled arrangements.
