CLARK, Marrion S. "Snookie" 1924-2004

CLARK, SLEE, MAGEE

Posted By: S. Bell
Date: 11/4/2011 at 09:24:44

Marion Slee "Snookie" Clark, 80, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, died Tuesday, November 16, 2004, at the Western Home Communities in Cedar Falls.

She grew up in Keokuk, Iowa and had a lifelong love for The Mississippi River. She took the liberty of capitalizing the “t” since it is such a grand river. Some of her best childhood memories were going down to Lock and Dam No. 19, to meet the Rock Island Dredge as it passed through. Her father was the chief engineer and he would be on the dredge from ice out to ice in. The river was a magical place for Snookie. Her grandfather also worked on the river and she must have loved to hear her father and grandfather talk about how they and their crews traveled up and down the river building wing dams to keep the channel clear. Snookie’s father sang with a group on the radio and she loved telling about tap dancing on a wooden floor at the Keokuk radio station while her father sang and played the steel guitar. It was in the 1930’s; television wouldn’t be here for a long time.

Snookie was a 1945 graduate of Washington University School of Nursing, St. Louis, Missouri, where she received certification as a registered nurse. During that time she was also in the Cadet Nurses Corp. She served as head nurse of Pediatrics at St. Francis Hospital from 1961 to 1964. The years from 1964 to 1967 were spent as a nurse for Waterloo Schools. In 1967 Snookie accepted the position as Dunkerton Community School nurse and she continued tending to children and teenagers needs until her retirement in 1986.

In 1978, the University of Iowa selected Snookie as one of the eight students for Pediatric Nurse Practitioner certification. She was 54 years old at that time, had not worked in a hospital setting for 14 years -- and was terrified. Failure wasn’t an option. She earned her degree, returned to Dunkerton Community Schools and continued serving as school nurse as she incorporated her new skills as Pediatric Practioner/Registered Nurse.After graduating from nursing school and before joining St. Francis Hospital, Snookie worked wherever her skills were needed. It wasn’t unusual for the town doctor in Dunkerton to call and let her know that she would need to pack some things and go out to so and so’s house for a few days to a week while they healed from an injury or surgery. It was a different time and she wouldn’t have considered telling the doctor that she had several small children at home and that she wouldn’t be able to help. She did what she was trained to do and what the doctor asked. Many nights, syringes would be rattling in a pan of boiling water. The rattling meant someone needed a shot and Snookie had been delegated to give it. With only one or two nurses in town, her medical opinion was often sought. Advice was free and most of the time, the shots were as well. When someone could pay, the cost was one dollar.

Snookie was a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church and Iowa Pen Women. She enjoyed time spent with friends, including retirees from Dunkerton Community Schools, her neighborhood walking group, a local nurses group, and her Red Cross group. Her friends were many – all with wide-ranging interests. She was devoted to them as they were to her.

Snookie was previously married to Lloyd E. Magee and had five children. They later divorced. Snookie married Joe Clark in 1980 and was widowed in 1998. Snookie and Joe truly celebrated their life together. The loved their combined family, happily remembering everyone’s special days and achievements. They were the children’s rock in times of adversity. Snookie and Joe wintered in Destin, Florida, traveled to Europe and enjoyed taking road trips.

After Snookie’s retirement, as more time was available, Snookie became a prolific writer and poet. She was a member of the National League of American Pen Women and enjoyed the friendships she made through that organization. She said that poems came to her unannounced, just needing to be put in order. She was wonderful at doing that. Snookie’s writings will always be cherished by her family and friends as well as by the many people who have read her published works. She amazed her children in 2003 when she started illustrating her poems with simple watercolors. Her last book was illustrated and is treasured by all who read it. Snookie always said she wrote what she knew, so she wrote about her life: Growing up in the depression and cooking eggs and toast for the “bums” who would knock at the back door, taking tap dancing lessons in the era of Shirley Temple, living by The Mississippi River, working at Woolworth’s and playing the piano and the clarinet as a teenager, becoming a nurse during WWII, marrying and having five children, and welcoming new people and experiences into her life. She wrote about the passing of her parents, sending her children off into the world, expanding her horizons, teaching others and always having room in her heart for one more child, stepchild, grandchild, great-grandchild or friend. She said that when her mother died, she thought ‘Now nobody will think I’m perfect’ because she knew that’s what her mother thought. But God sent Joe Clark, who thought she was perfect…and, she wondered, ‘what more could I ask?’ She closed one book by saying that there are parts best to leave out, and too much of living to get it all down anyway.

Snookie taught us to accept people where they are, not where we would like them to be. She knew that each of her children were as different as crayons in a box, accepted that and loved them all equally and unconditionally. There was always room for another person at the table in her home. Snookie was our mother, stepmother, mother-in-law, grandmother and great-grandmother. She was our role model, mentor and friend. We will miss her dearly and the examples she set will stay with us forever. Snookie may have been born into black and white, but she, indeed, lived in Technicolor—and brightened the lives of all who knew her.

Memorial services were 1:30 p.m. Friday, November 19, at St. Luke's Episcopal Church, with inurnment at Greenwood Cemetery, both in Cedar Falls. Memorials may be directed to Cedar Valley Hospice, St. Luke's Episcopal Church, The Parkinson's Foundation or The Leukemia Society.

[Source: Dahl-Van Hove-Schoof Funeral Home]
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CLARK, MARION S 18 Jul 1924 16 Nov 2004 (V) 80 50613 (Cedar Falls, Black Hawk, IA) (none specified) Iowa

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Note: Article did not list survivors