Louise Clark
Louise Jane Clark was born on October 21st, 1936, in Lemmon, South Dakota to Mervel and Ramona (Frerking) Ham. She grew up south of Lemmon near Shade Hill on the family farm and graduated from Lemmon High School in 1954. She was a drum majorette in the Lemmon high school band and was quite the self-taught baton twirler.
After high school Louise attended Northern State Teachers College. She obtained a teaching degree. While at Northern she met her future husband, John (Jack) Perry Clark, who was also going to school there. She knew Jack’s younger brother, Charles, from High School, so she cold-called Jack and asked if she could “catch a ride” back to Lemmon for the holidays. Apparently, the drive went well. Louise was united in marriage to Jack on August 25th, 1956, at Calvary Lutheran Church in Lemmon. Louise told the story that after the wedding, as they were getting ready to leave for their honeymoon, her father approached the car and handed Jack their marriage license. It had a tire track across it and he said, “I hope you take better care of my daughter than you have the marriage license.” They were married 58 years.
After getting married, Louise and Jack moved to Aberdeen. Louise started teaching at Aberdeen Central High School, and then at the Aberdeen School of Commerce. Their first son was born in 1960, so Louise put her career on hold, making the decision to stay at home to take care of her children. Louise and Jack raised their three boys on Park Avenue. It was a wonderful neighborhood of many other kids and close families. After the boys were all out of high school, Louise went to work at Presentation Nursing College where she stayed for 12 years before retiring.
Louise and Jack became snowbirds in the late 1980’s and spent winters in Sun City, Arizona. They made many new friends as well as socializing with all their Aberdeen friends who had also headed south.
In the early 1970s, Louise and Jack bought land north of town with the long-range plan of building their retirement dream home there. They planted many trees over the years to create a wonderful homestead. The boys have “fond memories” of hauling buckets of water in the summertime to keep the saplings alive. They built their home there in 1991. They enjoyed many years of country living. Mom is fondly remembered for all the mowing she had done over the years, keeping the 4 acres of lawn manicured and looking nice. They had planted a Haralson apple tree in the yard and shared many apples with family and friends. Louise made the best apple pies!
Louise was very active in Bethlehem Lutheran Church along with Jack. They both sang in the choir for many years. She and Jack were very active socially. They enjoyed bowling, playing Bridge, and golfing with their friends. Louise even had a hole-in-one on the 7th hole at MC3. She was a long-time member of the Aberdeen La Sertoma Club. Louise and Jack traveled extensively around the US during his term as President of the South Dakota State Chamber of Commerce.
Louise and Jack adored their only grandchild, Isabelle. They designed complex treasure hunts every time she visited.
Louise passed away unexpectedly on November 24th, 2025, at Bethesda nursing home short stay unit. Preceding her in death were her husband Jack (2014), her parents, brothers Leonard and Howard, and sister Ona Leslie.
She is survived by her three sons: Trenton (Jennifer), Houston, TX and granddaughter Isabelle New York, NY; Dwight (Jennifer), Gold Canyon, AZ, and Brad (Paulette), Aberdeen, SD, sisters Ruth (Vaughn) Berg, Lemmon, SD, and Dorothy Lock, Williams Bay, WI.
www.spitzerfuneralhome.com