Patty Clark

Patricia Clark, age 62, died peacefully on December 21, 2020, surrounded by the love of her family and dear friends. Patty graduated from Immaculate Heart Academy in Washington Twp. and from Boston College. She worked for many years as Executive Assistant to the Chairman and the President of the New York Mercantile Exchange, and in recent years as an Administrative Assistant to her mother, Author Mary Higgins Clark, until her passing in January of this year. Patty’s greatest joy in life was her son, Jerome “Jerry” Derenzo. She cheered him at his football games at St. Joseph’s Regional High School in Montvale and lovingly supported him in both good times and bad. She joyously attended his wedding to Tara last year and so looked forward to becoming a doting grandmother. We are heartbroken that she will never have that privilege. Patty endured a number of substantial health issues over the years but always faced them with courage and resilience and a never ending sense of humor. She was always fun to be around, always willing to help, and to the end was an inspiration to all who knew her. A devout Catholic, Patty visited Lourdes with her mother, and in 2013 was inducted as a Dame of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre of Jerusalem which is charged with the support of Catholic Shrines in the Holy Land. Patty was pre-deceased by her father, Warren Clark, her mother, Mary Higgins Clark, and her stepfather, John Conheeney. Patty was always so proud and delighted that she had introduced her mother, who had been widowed for years, to John Conheeney in 1996. They married a few months later and shared twenty-three happy years until John’s death in 2018.

Patty is survived by her son, Jerome and his wife, Tara, her dear siblings, Marilyn, Warren and his wife, Sharon, David, and Carol, by her cherished nieces and nephews, Elizabeth, Andrew, Courtney, Justin and David, and their families, by her loved Clark and Higgins cousins, and by the Conheeney Family. She will also be deeply missed by her close and supportive friends, including retired Bishop of Metuchen Paul Bootkoski, Louis Delvecchio, Dana Brown, Agnes Newton, Kerry Finn Bartosik, Barbara Conheeney and by Tara’s parents, Tom and Linda Demuro.

The wake will be held at Becker Funeral Home, Westwood, NJ on TODAY, Tuesday, December 22nd from 4:00PM to 8:00PM. The Funeral Mass will be held at St. Gabriel’s Church in Saddle River on Wednesday, December 23rd at 10:30AM. Interment will follow at Gate of Heaven Cemetery, Hawthorne, NY. The wake will be public, but due to COVID restrictions, the Mass and Interment will be private. The family wishes to thank Dr. Charles P. Vialotti and the Staff of the Holy Name Hospital Hospice, Villa Marie Claire, who extended such compassionate care to Patty in her final days. The family also thanks Patty’s personal physician and friend, Dr. Mary Bello for her kind and wonderful care and concern. In lieu of flowers, anyone wishing to do so may make a memorial contribution to the Covenant House, N.J. for Raphael’s House, 330 Washington Street, Newark, NJ 07102 or to Villa Marie Claire Hospice, 12 W. Saddle River Road, Saddle River, NJ 07458. Patty was deeply loved and will be forever missed. Patty, we will see you again.