Dorothy Clark

With great sadness and heavy hearts, the Clark family conveys the passing of their beloved mother, Dorothy Brooks Clark, 90, on the morning of Oct. 7, 2018. There were family members at her bedside when she passed in her home of over 53 years, succumbing to a struggle from cancer for nearly a year.

Born on Feb. 21, 1928 in Newburyport, Mass., Dorothy was the much-loved daughter of the late Arthur and Katherine Brooks, and loving sister of the late Barbara Allen, previously from Illinois, and Nancy Brown from Indiana. Although they were miles apart, her affection for her sisters was always paramount.

While attending Tufts University in the 1940s, Dorothy met Robert Burrell Clark, to whom she was quite smitten and ultimately married in 1948. They were able to celebrate their seventieth wedding anniversary this past August 27.

Dorothy excelled at many things — first, and foremost, at being a wonderful mother to her five children. Growing up with our mother, the household had an air that resonated family. She created the finest items for family and friends: beautiful quilts, hand-smocked dresses and nightgowns, hand-knit sweaters, hats and blankets and many more lovely handmade personal items. She could bake like a professional baker, such that anyone who knew her would hope for her home-baked cookies at Christmastime with the added hope of receiving her delicious breads. She was a wizard at bridge, cribbage (she most often won), multiple puzzles, map reading, and much more. She and Robert would take day trips throughout Maine, sometimes just the two of them, other times with friends, he at the wheel and she co-piloting them through their journeys with a map in her lap.

She had a fascinating memory. Everyone who knew her was astounded by it and it was so dependable that she would be the life of the party of reminiscing. We all will miss that beauty of reflective memory she had.

At the start of her retirement in 1989, she and Robert spent winters in Naples, Fla., where she volunteered at the local hospital. She and Robert were very close friends with Phyliss and “Pete” (Richard) Forristall that started originally in their hometown of Lynnfield, Mass., in the early 1950s, living two doors apart, and continued when they lived two doors apart on Moose Pond in Denmark, Maine, and once again residing close to each other in Naples, Fla. Both Phyliss and Richard have passed on but have been deeply missed by Dorothy and Robert.

In Lynnfield, Dorothy and Robert belonged to “The Couples Club,” where neighbors, most whom have passed on, would gather and share the hosting of dinners, Dorothy’s typically ending with her beautiful baked Alaska laced with strawberries or her delicious coconut cake. Her children loved it best when she and Robert hosted as they were the recipients of the leftovers!

Dorothy leaves behind a legacy of family members: Linda Higgins, husband Barry; Diane Munson, husband Sam; Cynthia Arvanites, husband Peter; Janet Clark; Andrew Brooks Clark, wife Debra; 15 grandchildren; 21 great-grandchildren; nieces and nephews and their children. She had an enormity of friends, local neighbors and her bridge buddies.

The family has decided to celebrate the lives of Dorothy and Robert together upon Robert’s passing. He is now ninety-two years of age and is currently at home in hospice care with family surrounding him frequently. If considering a donation in Dorothy’s name, please consider the oncology department at Bridgton Hospital or On Eagles Wings, PO Box 363, Bridgton, Maine 04009.

Arrangements have been entrusted to Wood Funeral Home, 9 Warren Street, Fryeburg, Maine. To send words of condolences online, please visit www.woodfuneralhome.org