OBITUARY Kathryn “Kathy” Diane (King) Clark April 19, 1945 – July 15, 2018 Kathy passed away on July 15, 2018 at the age of 73. She was born in Denver, Colorado on April 19, 1945 to Margie and Barry King. At the age of 4, Kathy contracted polio.
The disease and surgeries that followed limited her physical abilities, but never colored her outlook or defined her life. She was a 1963 graduate of Northwest Classen High School and a 1967 graduate of OU with a teaching degree. In the fall of 1965 she met the love of her life on a blind date.
Kathy was a member of Alpha Chi Omega sorority and Chip says when she came down the main stairs of the sorority house for their first date, “She was the cutest thing I had ever seen”. They were married on August 5, 1967. Kathy taught school at Hayes Elementary while Chip finished law school, then substitute taught in California and worked with GIs while he served in the Army.
Later she was a research associate for the Oklahoma City Public Schools, evaluating educational opportunities for students from low income neighborhoods. But the most exciting time of her professional life was when she became a psychometrist. She loved children and exemplified that love by traveling around the state, testing school kids and designing programs to help them achieve their maximum potential.
It was especially rewarding when she was working with autistic children. She found the variety of their gifts and the way they related to the world absolutely fascinating. After spending half a day with one of these special children, she would invariably come home saying: “I tested the cutest kid today”.
They were all special to Kathy. But the most special kids were her two sons, Jay and Stoney. Her pride in them and their achievements knew no bounds.
They were the light in her eyes. And when they brought two wonderful ladies, Alexis and Evy, into the family, she loved them as the daughters she never had. Then came the grandchildren: Jarrett, Elliott, Pia, Jillian and Silja who energized her with their boundless affection, wit, and enthusiasm.
The highlight of her life was the Caribbean cruise the family took last summer to celebrate their fifty years of marriage. Kathy enjoyed working the cryptoquotes in the daily newspaper and attacked them with dogged determination. Seldom was she unable to solve the puzzle.
Preceded in death by her parents, Margie and Barry, Kathy is survived by her loving husband, Chip, her sons, their wives and her grandchildren, and her brother Steve and wife Sandi. There will be a visitation at Hahn-Cook Funeral Home from 6pm-8pm Thursday, July 19 and a memorial service at 11am on Friday, July 20 at Church of the Servant. In lieu of flowers memorials may be sent to the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, or the Autism Society of America, 4340 East-West Hwy, Suite 350, Bethesda, MD 20814.
FAMILY Preceded in death by her parents, Margie and Barry, Kathy is survived by her loving husband, Chip, her sons, their wives and her grandchildren, and her brother Steve and wife Sandi.
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