Mary Colleen Clark, 87

Born May 28, 1923

Passed Oct. 26, 2010

Mary Colleen Clark left this life to begin a beautiful life in Heaven. Colleen was born in Jancy, India, in 1923, one of 14 children. She had a rich life growing up in India; the daughter of a British Rail Executive, Dennis Woodrow Callahan and her loving mother Agnes Gertrude Dickens Callahan.

Colleen was the epitome of a spunky lady. Although raised in a proper British family, she was often a rebel, preferring to use her slingshot rather than attend tea parties. At an early age she was sent to private Catholic Boarding School in the Himalayas. She was quickly identified by the nuns as the prankster who was often in trouble. She reveled in this role because, for her, life was about enjoying every moment. This is a philosophy she followed for a lifetime.

After a private education she entered the British Armed Services serving as a telegraph operator in charge of warning allies in India of enemy movement. During her military days she fell in love with dancing and was often involved in Jitterbug Contests, always taking first place. It was at one of these events that she met her husband, Edward H. Clark. In 1945 under full military honors they were married. The same year as British Rule in India fell, she boarded a ship and left her family and her place of birth to start her new life in United States with her husband.

In 1946 she gave birth to her first child, a son Larry Clark (Helen) followed by a daughter, Linda Clark Walker; a second daughter, Edweena Clark Skinner and eventually a second son, Dwayne Clark (Terese), the family lived between the Tri-Cities and a family Ranch on the Salmon River in Riggins. In 1967 she divorced and became a single mother, whose goal was to put her four kids through college. She moved to Lewiston where she lived from 1966 to 1975. Her work ethic and tireless devotion to her children were unmatched.

In 1975 she moved to Walla Walla, Wash., for her son Dwayne to attend private school. In 1978 she moved to the Spokane/Post Falls Region where she lived with her daughter Edweena until 2004. In 2004 she was diagnosed with Parkinson Related Dementia and moved into Aegis Living, where she lived until her death on Oct. 26, 2010. She is also "Gram" to eight grandchildren, Ryan Walker (Ines), Aleisha Walker (John Russo), Tiffany Barkman (Jeremiah), Kimberly Thielman (Brett), Derrick Skinner (Sally), Christie Clark, Adam Clark (Lyvia) and Ashley Rea (Ricky). She is "GG" to six great-grandchildren: Dylan Walker, Alexander Thielman, William Thielman, Sequoia Barkman, Andre Clark and soon to be born, Baby Skinner.

She was and always will be the Matriarch of our family, a free spirit and a person who walked this world in her own special way. She was deeply loved by our family and will be forever remembered in our hearts. Her life story is memorialized by her son Dwayne in his book "My Mother, My Son."

Our family wishes to recognize Kathy Stewart and the staff at Aegis of Kirkland in whose care we entrusted her and who treated her as if she were their mother. We also appreciate the kindness of Evergreen Hospice.

We miss you Our Momma and we always will.