Ruth Elaine (Warye) Clark, age 102 years, died from complications of Covid-19 on August 28th, 2020 at Calvin Community. Due to Covid-19 restrictions, there will be a private family graveside service on Tuesday, September 2, 2020 at Chapel Hill Cemetery (Merle Hay).
Ruth was born on April 30, 1918, to Lew Wallace and Hattie E. (Tracy) Warye at the farm home near Joetown, Iowa. She grew up on a farm near Nashua, Iowa, attending a rural school at Pearl Rock and Nashua High School. After graduating from Iowa State College with a degree in Dietetics, she interned at New York Hospital Cornell Medical Center and remained on the staff for seven years. Ruth returned to Des Moines, Iowa in 1947. While working at Iowa Methodist Hospital she met Glenn L. Clark. They were married May 1, 1948. Ruth was active in her profession working in hospitals for 33 years; retiring from the Des Moines Veterans Medical Center in 1980. As a volunteer, Ruth gave tours of the Flynn Mansion at Living History Farms. Ruth was an active member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.
Ruth is survived by one son, Henry Alan Clark and wife Mary of Kansas City, MO; Nancy Clark and spouse Cindy Carney of Dallas, TX; Carol Dicks and husband Gary of Des Moines; and Linda Smith and husband Robert of Olathe, KS, and 9 grandchildren and 11 great grandchildren. Ruth was preceded in death by her husband of 70 yrs. Glenn L. Clark (2018); her brother, Russell B. Warye and his wife Dolores; and her sister, Dorothy Coates and husband, Loyal.
In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Living History Farms or the Good Samaritan Fund at Calvin Community.
