Mary Laurena (Enfield) Clark

Mary Laurena Enfield Clark, 97, died on December 5, 2021, in Rock Hill, South Carolina. She was formerly of Tujunga and South Pasadena, California. She was born August 11, 1924, in Arthur County, Nebraska.

Mary was the daughter of Nebraska homesteaders, John Henry Enfield and Minnie Laurena Jorgensen Enfield.  She was the youngest of six children, including: John Fredric, Virgil Eugene, Arthur Theodore, Lawrence Edger, Beulah "Boo" Marie (Law), all of whom preceded Mary in death. Her father died when she was five years old, leaving her mother to manage the family, the home and the land.

On the family "L Heart" Ranch, homesteaded in 1914 and located 14 miles southwest of Arthur, Mary grew up assimilating the values of thrift, conservation, hard work, simplicity, recycling. She was taught an appreciation for nature, the scriptures of the Holy Bible and the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Her early life in the Sandhills of Nebraska groomed her for living a life with no boundaries, a spirit of adventure, and a love of the outdoors.

Mary attended a one-room schoolhouse in Arthur County, giving the Valedictory address at the Eighth Grade Promotion Exercises, 1938.  She then attended the Nebraska School of Agriculture, Curtis, Nebraska, graduating in 1942 with a Teaching Certification. She was Queen of the Senior Prom. Later, in 1972, she received a Licensed Vocational Nurse Certification (LVN) from Glendale College, Glendale, California, followed by 16 years of employment at Glendale Adventist Medical Center.

In her youth, Mary was baptized in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and later joined the Seventh Day Adventist Church in 1962.  She was active for many years in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU).

After teaching for one year in a one-room schoolhouse in Arthur County, Mary moved from Nebraska to Los Angeles in 1943 and worked at Lockheed as a "Rosie the Riveter" on the B-17 Bombers during WWII. She married Douglas Reid Clark on January 28, 1946.  They had seven children; the second born, John Haslem Clark, passing at birth.  Her surviving children were often referred to as the Six K's—William Kirkwood , Kimbal Reid, Kelly Mart (Bacon), Kaysee May, Klansee Jill and Kit Douglas.

Mary was proud to be a mother and wrote that her children were a great source of joy.  Mounted on her Subaru, in which she logged thousands of miles traveling the United States, was a license plate holder reading,  "Domestic Engineer." Her practical nature and large family were well served by her proficient skills in sewing, quilting, gardening and pie making.  She received numerous county fair Blue Ribbons for entries in such categories.

Mary often referred to herself as a "Seven-Day Adventurer" and was known to express her exuberance with a knee slapping cackle. Each day was a scavenger hunt for her. Her residences in Tujunga, California; South Pasadena, California; and Rock Hill, South Carolina contained numerous found treasures, artifacts, antiques, mementos, and plants. She had a lifelong love of rocks, glass and glass vessels, pottery, antiques, flowers and plants--especially cactus and succulents.

She was preceded in death by her husband Doug in 1981. She is survived by her six children and their spouses; six grandchildren and five great grandchildren; friends and extended family.

Mary's wishes were for no funeral nor memorial service. Her ashes will be scattered by the winds of the Sandhills’skies.