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Rosalind Clark is remembered
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Rosalind Clark
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By Natasha Clark
Assistant Managing Editor
EAST LONGMEADOW When Jocelyn Smith wakes up in the morning her mother is on her mind. Sure her mother didn't always call at the most convenient times, and she always had one last thing to say, but on this particular morning Smith would have loved to hear that one last thing, even if it meant she would have been late to work.
There will be no phone call. On Feb. 9, Smith's mother, Rosalind Alane Poquette Clark's life came full circle. After a brief battle with cancer, Clark died in Alburg, Vt, her place of birth.
Smith is not the only person who feels fortunate to have known Clark. Director of the East Longmeadow Council of Aging (ELCOA) since 1980, the Hampden resident was an adamant advocate for seniors, an athlete who walked for suicide awareness, artist, friend and beloved by many. Ask anyone what they thought of Clark and one of the first words streamed into their sentence is "dedicated."
So instead of reaching for the telephone, Smith headed for the keyboard. Last Thursday on a murky morning in March, Smith typed her thoughts before she stepped out of her house to begin a new day.
"We live in a world of drive-by shootings. My mother believed in drive- by hugs. She was always running here or there," she wrote. "She would run in and say, 'Just stopping in for a drive by hug.' How blessed was I to have such a mother."
Janice Michaelis, also of the ELCOA, worked with Clark since 1986. Over the last few years, she was one of many who witnessed how diligently Clark worked for the seniors and in recent years to renovate the Senior Center.
"She was persistent, tenacious," Michaelis explained. "She cared so much about the seniors and the center. I feel bad that she's not going to see [the renovations] come to fruition. I don't think that people always realized all of the advocating she did. She was very aware of wellness and promoting wellness among seniors, and that is what takes me so. She was so involved in that she always said the body was made to live to 110. And I always thought she was the one to do it."
Michaelis said that Clark was more than her boss, she was also her friend.
"We've been through a lot of personal and professional things here. It's hard to put into words," Michaelis said. "It's a tremendous loss here ... I feel very privileged to have known her."
Board of Selectman Chair James Driscoll has known Clark most of his adult life.
"I've always known her to be a wonderful, caring person. I've never heard her speak ill of anyone. She was a tireless advocate for the seniors in town and for renovations for the building," Driscoll said. "The work that she got done touched hundreds of thousands of lives, on a shoe string budget. She was truly doing the Lord's work."
When you hear all of the things Clark was capable of, let alone what she accomplished, it is quite hard to believe. She could play an accordion, piano, guitar, violin and organ which she played at St. Mary's Church in Hampden for the past 25 years. Smith said her mother and Marge Vallone helped start the Baystate Senior Games. She was also an advocate for deaf seniors.
"She was a very inclusive person, never wanting anyone to feel left out," said Smith. "My mother was sensitive from watching her sister who is deaf. My mother wanted to create a place for all deaf seniors to gather from all communities. I know from experience how essential this program is in East Longmeadow. I work for Chicopee VNA (Visiting Nurse Association). My patients can't wait to return back to the senior center once they have recovered from their illness."
Of her many hobbies were singing, star and bird watching, pastel portraiture and speaking French. Clark was also a big fan of the Boston Red Sox.
"I was also thinking about all the ball games we went to," Smith recalled. "Mom could not understand how I loved baseball so much until I took her to Fenway. She was not one to ever sit still a day in her life. Once I took her she couldn't wait until the next time. She was the best to take to a game. She didn't care if we were the last ones to leave the park. Extra innings meant more fun. She would savor every victory. Never comment on a defeat, just be happy to be there.
"I used to tease her about not having cable TV. She felt it was wasteful. She was so active and never home. She always would say, 'Why do I need cable TV, you have cable. If I need to watch the game, I will go to your house.' And she did. Ten minutes after a game started you would hear a knock [at the door.]"
That same drum of philanthropy that Clark marched to is continuing to beat on in others.
"I'm going to do everything I can to continue to fight for the completion of renovations [at the senior center]. Her name and spirit will never be forgotten there," Driscoll added. "Not if I have anything to say about it."
In her last days, surrounded by friends and family, Smith said, "She saw the people she loved and the place that made her the great person she was. I can't describe it better than her heart was so big it just burst.
"I want my mother to be best remembered as someone who stood up for what was right even if she stood alone," Smith said. "She had a very disarming way about her. She felt senior services were not nonessential. With warmth and compassion, she tried to teach people that eventually we all will be old, if we are lucky."
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