Carol Jeanne Loveridge Clark

(September 8, 1930 - February 6, 2010)

Carol Jeanne Loveridge Clark, our precious and loving mother and grandmother, age 79, of Springville, Utah, died at home on February 6, 2010, after a valiant battle with cancer. Born September 8, 1930 in Springville, Utah, to Joseph LeRoy and Mary Grace Fullmer Loveridge, Carol was the youngest of five children. She married her high school sweetheart, C. LaMar Clark, on May 9, 1949 in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. They were married for 49 years, inseparable until LaMar’s passing in 1998.

Carol loved music and was blessed with an exceptional singing voice, sharing her talent as a soloist and in various choirs. She was active in her community, including as President of the high school PTA, where her innovations and leadership led to the establishment of the overnight senior graduation party. Carol served as a voting registrar for many years, as an EMT, and in other community service endeavors. Active in the LDS Church, she fulfilled many callings, including in the Primary Presidency while in her 70s.

After raising her children, Carol returned to school, earning her degree from Utah Valley University to become a licensed practical nurse. She worked for Utah Valley Hospital with its blood drives until her retirement.

All were welcome in Carol’s home, drawn to her generous heart, wise counsel, and delightful sense of humor. Whatever the need, Carol had an innate gift for identifying and meeting it. Her love for others was limitless, evidenced by the steady stream of friends and family who traveled great distances to visit her in her final days.

Carol’s most powerful love was saved for her husband and children. She was diligent in giving her time, talents, and efforts for her family, providing them with many cultural and educational opportunities. Blessed with a legacy of tough pioneer resiliency, she never complained about her own tribulations.

Carol was preceded in death by her son, Richard Dale, and beloved husband, LaMar. She is survived by her children, John LaMar (Cheryl), Russell Ray (Daina), Kathleen Muir, Stuart Lynn (Teresa), Kelly Jay (Wendy), and Michael Ryan (Elsa), 18 grandchildren, 16 great-grandchildren, her sister Leslie Francis (Reed), and numerous other loved ones. Her greatest legacy was her ability to make each of them feel that she loved them the “mostest”.

Funeral services will be at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, February 13, 2010, at the Spring Creek 1st Ward LDS chapel, 860 East 200 North, Springville, Utah. A public viewing will be held from 6:00 to 8:00 pm at Wheeler Mortuary, 211 E. 200 S., Springville, Utah, on Friday, February 12, 2010, and one hour prior to the funeral service at the 1st Ward chapel. Interment at Springville Evergreen Cemetery. The family encourages donations in Carol’s name to the LDS Church Humanitarian Fund.

Where does it go?

Lately I have been thinking a lot about time. It's crazy! You spend your entire life gearing up for a single event- your birthdays, baptism, going to high school, graduating, getting married, etc. Then all of a sudden the day is past, and you are years ahead, looking back trying desperately to remember the details of the day. I remember being so excited to finally get in high school. The day couldn't come soon enough. I know this is a corny cliche, but it really feels like a week ago when I started my life BHS, but I am happy to say that I have changed a LOT since then, and I wouldn't trade my experiences since then for anything in the world. The thing that has brought this on the most is thinking about my amazing Grandma Clark.

As I have grown up, I've always considered her to be invincible. I had my first major dose of reality in regards to Grandma about a year ago when she tripped over a high chair in California and injured her pelvis and shoulder. Since that time, she has been diagnosed with and treated for ovarian cancer (which included both surgery and radiation), received shoulder surgery (which had some pretty serious complications, resulting in her admittance into the ICU), diagnosed with lung cancer, which then turned out to be in her brain, and ultimately was given just weeks to live. Every day she is getting weaker and weaker and she has only days left- if that. Now, I know I shouldn't be sad. Once she dies she'll be free from her pain and will finally be reunited with her husband and her little boy. But I can't help but be a little stunned. Back in January of last year, I had come to accept the idea of her passing. I was in Florida at the time and I even told my managers at Disney that I may have to take temporary, possibly even permanent, leave for her funeral. But then she pulled through in California and went home to Springville, and, in spite of the oxygen she was now constantly wearing, I allowed myself to believe again that she was invincible. Then came her diagnosis with cancer, and she seemingly pulled through again! Then her stay in the ICU, where once again, she pulled through.

All year long I have had to keep preparing myself for the possibility of her death, but then pulled back into an imaginary dream world where it looked like Grandma would be around for a while. But this time, she's not going to recover. And it, for whatever reason, is so hard for me to accept. I can't imagine a world without Carol in it. It's crazy to me to think that next time I'm in her house, she won't be upstairs at the crack of dawn making Belgian waffles. I am never going to have another opportunity to hear her read the Polar Express on Christmas Eve. I just can't imagine being without her. I love her so much and I am greatly going to miss her, and the love that she gives everyone she comes in contact with. But I know I'll see her again, and personally believe that she will always be present when her loved ones need her. Her spirit may be leaving this earth, but there is something that is NEVER going to change. It's something that has always been, and something that my mom and I promised her when we said goodbye for the last time- to love her the mostest forever and ever! And I know that she will continue to love her family the mostest forever, too!