Catherine Hurley Clark of Green Valley, Arizona, died at the age of 82 at Christus Hospital St. Elizabeth on Thursday, April 30, 2009. Born in Fall River, Massachusetts July 10, 1926, Catherine received her B.S. in pharmacy from the Massachusetts College of Pharmacy 1945. She obtained an M.S. in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1947 at Purdue University where she assisted in early research in the way bones absorb radioactive substances, which led to the development of cancer detection and treatment methods still in use today.
In 1947 Catherine married her husband of fifty-five years, Forrest David Clark, and accompanied him as he was assigned to work in oil refineries in South America and Asia. When her children were grown, she attended the Saddleback College of Nursing at Mission Viejo, California and was licensed as a registered nurse in 1982. She worked as an emergency room nurse, and after she retired volunteered for many years at the United Community Health Center and the Carondelet Hospice, both in Green Valley, Arizona. Until the time of her death she utilized her language and nursing skills by assisting the staff with intake at St. Andrew’s Children’s Clinic in Nogales, Arizona, a free clinic for disabled children from Mexico.
Catherine was elected in 2002 to a term on the Board of Directors of Green Valley, the governing body of a community of some 14,000 residents. A Silver Life Master, Catherine was serving in her twentieth years as Manager of the Green Valley Duplicate Bridge Club. She was a monitor at the GVR fitness center, and was active in Our Lady of the Valley Catholic Church, having recently been elected to the parish council.
Catherine is survived by her brother, Daniel Hurley and his wife Eleanor; sister, Patricia Williamson and her husband James; sister, Julia Plotnick; her son and daughter-in-law, Ronald and Joanna Clark; daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and John Long. Her grandchildren are David Clark and his wife Kimberly, Kevin Clark, William Long, and Catherine Long; and her great grandson is Devlin Clark. She is also survived by seventeen nieces and nephews and fourteen great nieces and nephews.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Forrest; brother, Richard Hurley; and sister, Marie Sherman.
A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 10:00 a.m. Tuesday, May 5, 2009 at Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church in Sour Lake with burial to follow at Rosedale Cemetery under the direction of Broussard’s, 1605 North Major Drive, Beaumont. A gathering of her family and friends will be from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. with a Christian Vigil at 6:00 p.m. Monday, May 4, 2009 at Broussard’s.
The family requests that in lieu of flowers donations be made to the Catherine Hurley Clark Scholarship in Nursing, at Lamar University. Donations may be made payable to Lamar University Foundation, and mailed to PO Box 11500, Beaumont, TX 77710.
