Martha Clark

On November 16, 1936, one cool-crisp autumn day in Marked Tree, Arkansas, a beautiful baby girl decided to arrive 8 weeks early. The surprised, proud parents, Eddie and Maggie Simmons, named her Martha Esther Simmons.

Martha’s education began at the elementary school in Knowlton, AR. She went on to get her GED at Cotton-Boll Vo Tech, and then became a certified Nurse’s Aide at the Northeast Arkansas Agency on Aging in Blytheville, AR.

Martha worked as an NA until the age of 70. She was a member of the NAACP and a former Sister of the Order of Eastern Star.

Martha gave her life to Christ in her teen years and was baptized at St. Matthew Baptist Church in Hermondale, MO. Martha was wed to OC Clark in 1953, moving to Double Ditches, MO, and becoming Martha Esther Clark. In this union, six children were born.

Martha was preceded in death by her parents, husband, and four siblings (3 sisters and one brother).

She leaves to cherish her memories: Four daughters, Carolyn Johnson (Jerome) and Lisa Winston (Johnny), of Oklahoma City; Linda Tobias-Doss (Larry), of St. Louis, Loretta Clark of Temple, Texas; two sons, Phillip Clark and Matthew Clark (Lena), of Chandler, AR; one sister, Josephine Robinson of Cleveland, OH; 18 grandchildren, 27 great-grandchildren, and a host of family of friends.