Verna Lou Clark

Verna Lou (Campbell) Clark unexpectedly went home to be with the Lord at her home in Marana, AZ, on July 18, 2021. She was born in Bridgeport, WV on September 1, 1940, a daughter of the late Hayward Clarence Campbell and Eva Marjorie Harper Campbell. She graduated from Bridgeport High School in 1958 and worked for a time at a bank in Clarksburg, WV. On July 1,1961 she married the late Keith M. Clark of Hepzibah, WV, while he was home on leave from the U.S. Navy.

After Keith was honorably discharged from the Navy and finished his college degree, he started a lifelong career as an educator and coach. While Verna had various administrative and secretarial jobs over the years, she mostly lived the life of a mother and a coach’s wife at various high schools and colleges. Beginning in 1964, they moved 7 times in 19 years, before finally settling in Mansfield, OH in 1983, where they lived happily for 27 years. In 2010 she moved to New Albany, OH, and in 2019 she moved to Marana, AZ, near Tucson. She grew to be an avid sports fan herself, particularly Ohio State and WVU football and basketball, never missing a game when it was on TV. She also loved the college basketball tournament (“March Madness”), and even at 80 years old during March Madness 2021, she had pages of legal pads filled out with tournament matchups and TV schedules of games.

After being widowed in 2010, she really enjoyed living near her daughters Julie and Amy and their children in Central Ohio. But with family around the country, she wasn’t content to sit at home. She took the first airplane flight of her life in 2011 when she was 71 to visit her son Tim and his family in New York City. She followed that by flying to Arizona for her grandson Taylor’s graduation, and in 2019 joyously flew to California on a trip with her sisters that she talked about often.

All her life she modeled hospitality, generosity, and kindness. She wanted nothing more than for her family to put the Lord, His leading, and His work above every other consideration, regardless of the effect on her. She daily spent time in God’s word, as her tattered Bible attests, and she was known as a prayer warrior, always lifting up friends and family to God in prayer. People knew that if a situation or loved one needed prayer, they could call Verna/Mom/Grandma and prayers would be faithfully lifted up. She dearly loved her grandchildren and treasured every minute with them.

In addition to her parents and husband, she was preceded in death by five sisters, Donita Robinson, Rebecca Dell Patton, Carolyn Sue Campbell, Barbara Jean Campbell, and Janet Lee Brunetti.

She is survived by: daughter Julie Clark, Columbus, OH; son Tom Clark and his wife Diane, Tucson, AZ; son Tim Clark and his wife Deborah, Phoenix, AZ; and daughter Amy Scheren and her husband Brian, Westerville, OH. Seven grandsons, Isaiah Clark, Ryan Clark, Taylor Clark, Christopher Scheren, Sam Clark, Jared Clark, and Riley Scheren; three granddaughters, Olivia Clark, Kristen Clark, and Mac Scheren. Six sisters, Marjorie Marshall and her husband Robert; Conda Mace; Vicki Maxwell; Linda Fragmin and her husband Greg; Sandy Smart; and Beverly Recktenwald; two brothers, Larry Campbell and his wife Polly; and Jacob Campbell; and numerous nieces and nephews.

Family and friends will be received at the Davis-Weaver Funeral Home, 329 E. Main Street, Clarksburg, WV, on Wednesday August 4, 2021, from 10 a.m. until the funeral service at 11 a.m. Graveside service will follow at 1:00pm at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton. For those who are unable to attend, Davis-Weaver Funeral Home will be streaming the service on FaceBook Live.