Ethel Baker Clark

Published 4:00 am Tuesday, December 22, 2015

    Ethel Baker Clark, 91, died Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015, at Manor Park Nursing Home in Midland, Texas, after a sudden onset of Hodgkin’s lymphoma. She had just moved to Manor Park Assisted Living in November.

    Ethel was born Sept. 1, 1924, in Meridian, the daughter of Warren Edward Baker and Minnie Gertrude (Gray) Baker. Ethel grew up in Meridian with eight older brothers and sisters, and she was the last of that generation of her family. As a young woman, she worked at the first local television station in Meridian, and cared for her parents until their deaths. In 1968, she married Harry W. Clark and moved from Meridian for the first time in her life to live in Midland, Texas. It was a very happy marriage and Ethel took to West Texas life with vigor, soon developing a wide circle of friends and interests. Harry and Ethel loved to travel and especially liked their trips to London. They relocated to San Angelo for two years and then retired home to Mississippi, to live in Brandon, just west of Jackson. After Harry died in 1996, Ethel decided that she wanted to return to Midland, which she did in 2002. Ethel renewed old friendships and constantly made new friends, who admired her energy and sense of humor. In September 2015, Ethel was able to make one last trip back to Meridian, and it was a very special time for her to see again where she had grown up and members of the Baker family.

    Survivors include her stepson, Marshall Clark (Diane) of Sacramento, Calif.; stepdaughter, Nancy Clark Murphy (Mike) of Belfair, Wash.; nephew, Jim Snowden (Martha) of Witchta Falls, Texas; niece, Elaine Pogue (Sammy); cousin, Tommy Rayner; and several great-great-grandnieces and nephews.  

    During the last weeks of her life, Ethel was lovingly cared for by her good friends, Erica Smith, Ann Westerman and Joey and Barbie Boyd, to whom the family is most grateful. The family is also grateful to the wonderful staff of Manor Park who did so much to welcome Ethel to that wonderful community.

    At Ethel’s explicit request, there will be no memorial service or funeral. Ethel chose to donate her body to the Texas Tech Medical School in Lubbock Texas, where her grandniece, Cindi Snowden, received her medical degree.

    In lieu of flowers, the family suggests that donations in Ethel’s memory might be made to the Crossgates Methodist Church, 23 Crossgates Drive, Brandon MS 39042, where Ethel and Harry were active members.