Mary Helen Clark

Mary Helen (Dallas) Clark passed away Saturday July 30th, 2016 at the age of 79 at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital surrounded by her family. Mary Helen was born in San Francisco, California on August 8th, 1936 to Gerton Albert Dallas and Ester Florence (Mechem) Dallas. Mary Helen moved to WA State with her family at the age of six. Her family first came to Seattle, then Edmonds, before settling in Yakima. She graduated from Yakima High School in 1954. While in High School, Mary Helen worked for Eddy’s Bakery.

Mary Helen married her late husband Billy Dale Clark in 1954 and started their family in August of 1956. She stayed home for 10 years to raise her family. In 1974 Mary Helen decided to continue her education and enrolled in the nursing program at YVCC, receiving her nursing degree in 1976.

Mary Helen was a passionate and dedicated nurse, working full time at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital in the NICU unit and another 4 years on an on‐call status before retiring in 2005. In her spare time she liked to sew, and would sew to donate quilts and baby clothes to the NICU at Memorial Hospital. She loved regular trips to the Beach, so much so that she purchased a Beach house to allow family and friends to use and enjoy as well. She also enjoyed antiquing in her spare time, finding the pieces she loved that she would then re‐do to her liking. Mary Helen never passed up the opportunity to make her family feel loved as they were her number one priority; whether it was making custom scrub tops for her daughters or personalized quilts for her family. Mary Helen exemplified the meaning of tough, a trait she has passed on to the family. In her downtime Mary Helen would often be found with a book, magazine, or searching for a place in her Atlas.

She is survived by her children Vincent (Judy) Clark of Selah, Vikki (Mike) Clark of Selah, Velvet Bunyard of Selah, Verlin (Mary) Clark of Yakima, and Vanessa (Lonnie) Mitchell of Yakima; one sister, Toni (Greg) Mottet of Roslyn; 5 grandchildren, 5 great grandchildren; and her four‐legged companion Venus, as well as many nieces, nephews and cousins. A special thank you to Dixie Kaiser, Theresa Blake and Wanda Streby for their thoughtfulness and spending countless hours with Mary Helen and making her journey that much more enjoyable.

The family would like to thank all the medical providers who assisted in Mary Helen’s care, specifically the Doctors and Nurses at Yakima Valley Memorial Hospital for their compassion.

Funeral services will be held 10 am, Saturday, August 6, 2016 at Keith & Keith Funeral Home followed by burial at West Hills Memorial Park. Visitation will be at the funeral home on Friday, August 5th from 4pm to 8pm. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Central Washington Humane Society or a charity of your choice. To share a memory of Mary please visit www.keithandkeith.com.