Valliemena L Clark

Valliemena “Val” Lorean Owen Clark, beloved wife, mother, grandmother and great-grandmother passed away Friday, December 7, 2018 while surrounded by her loved ones. Val was born March 4, 1931 in Lewiston, ID to Diamond Denton and Gladys Lorean Owen. After graduation from Lewiston High School in 1949, she married Richard Dean Clark on August 27, 1950.

Val is survived by Dean, her husband of sixty-eight years, four children, Rebecca Clark McPheeters, Steve Clark and wife Debi, Tom Clark and wife Tammie and Mary Clark Van Skaik and her husband Michael. She is also survived by twelve grandchildren and twenty-six great-grandchildren.

Val met Dean while working as the cook at a logging camp in Headquarters, ID. They married shortly after and moved to Greely, CO where they both graduated from Colorado State College of Education. Val majored in Speech Pathology and earned a minor in English and Drama.

Val was a devoted stay-at-home wife and mother as she followed Dean around the world during his 20 years in the U.S. Air Force — including stints in Okinawa and Guam. These experiences grew a love of travel and other cultures in Val and gave way to several trips to other Marianas Islands, Hong Kong and Japan. Countless lifelong friendships were made, and lives touched during this time.

After Dean’s retirement from the military and with children grown, it was time for Val to get back to one of her passions — teaching! Val was a faithful educator, working early on with individuals battling pronunciation challenges. She also taught a variety of group classes for special needs adults who could not be supported in other educational or professional settings. She believed in the power of the arts and planned and wrote dramas during her teaching and travels. These experiences culminated in a rewarding, twenty-seven year tenure at Spokane Community College. While at SCC, Val wrote a nationally recognized communication and job interview training curriculum. It is still in use by several college districts around the U.S. today! Not ones to sit idle, Val and Dean began leading group trips to China in the early 2000s. These trips were opportunities to teach Chinese students English and share American holidays and customs. God used these trips powerfully in the lives of the Chinese nationals and Uyghur people she met, as well as in the Americans she led abroad.

Val had another hobby she and Dean shared passionately: sailing. Val’s kids fondly recall the 16-ft sailboat they’d cram aboard during a season on Cape Cod. Later on, Val and Dean invested in a 28-ft boat affectionately called, “At Last”. Many summer days you could find them sailing on Lake Pend Oreille in Idaho. These outdoor experiences and the wildlife they saw were later richly captured in Val’s watercolor, pen, ink and oil paintings.

Most important, Val had a steadfast Christian faith and today, rests with her Savior. She was a lifelong learner, artist, teacher and encourager. To Dean and her family, she was fiercely loyal, loving and supportive. Today, she is dearly missed.

A memorial and celebration of Val’s life will be held on Saturday, December 15, 2018 at 1PM at Fourth Memorial Church (2000 N. Standard St., Spokane, WA 99207). Light refreshments to follow.