Ruth E. Clark

Memorial services for Ruth E. Clark, 94, Oak Park, Ill., will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 10, at The Village Presbyterian Church in Prairie Village. A celebration of life and tribute will be Sunday in Oak Park. Inurnment will be at a later date in Mount Moriah Cemetery.Mrs. Clark died Friday, Feb. 16, 2007, in Oak Park.She was born Aug. 29, 1912, in Ekron, Ky., the daughter of John Stanley and Nina Christine Bruner Dowell. She graduated from Ekron High School in 1929 and studied English and music education at Western Kentucky State Teachers College in Bowling Green. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Kentucky in Lexington in 1935 and a Master of Arts degree in English from the University of Kansas City in 1942. She was a former resident of Prairie Village and Lawrence. She had lived in Oak Park for the past six years.Mrs. Clark was a high school teacher in Ekron while she attended college. She was an accomplished pianist and volunteered as a nurse’s aide during World War II. She was a member of The Village Presbyterian Church, Eastern Star, Kansas City Young Matrons, Women’s Athletic Club of Kansas City, American Association of University Women, Greater Kansas City Alumnae of Alpha Gamma Delta, and the Greater Kansas City Art Association. She expressed herself in her later years through watercolor paintings, which were displayed at area shows.She married Ben C. Clark on Dec. 27, 1935. They shared almost 50 years of marriage. He preceded her in death.Mrs. Clark was also preceded in death by a grandson, Darren Rapp. Survivors include a son, Milton Clark, Oak Park, Ill.; a daughter, Ruthi Rapp and husband Patrick, Lawrence; a granddaughter, Elizabeth Moore; and two great-grandsons, Conner and Mason. The family suggests memorials to The Village Presbyterian Church, 6641 Mission Road, Prairie Village 66208, or a memorial of the donor’s choice.