Former education board member Clarke dies at 82

Tuesday, June 13, 2000 | 10:43 a.m.

Rosemary Clarke, who in 12 years on Nevada's State Board of Education was a champion for special education and an advocate for mainstreaming mentally disabled children into public school classrooms, has died. She was 82.

Clarke, who served the maximum three terms allowed on the education board from 1970 to 1982 and was at one time its president, died Friday in Visalia, Calif.

Services for the Las Vegas resident of 23 years will be at 12:30 p.m. Wednesday at Pahrump Family Mortuary, followed by burial at Chief Tecopa Cemetery.

Clarke helped shape state education policy by securing educational opportunities and facilities for mentally ill children and for children with other learning disabilities.

In 1976 Clarke was appointed by Gov. Mike O'Callaghan to the Developmental Disabilities Council, of which she eventually became chairman. Clarke also served on the Governor's Advisory Board on Mental Health and Retardation.

In 1980 she was elected president of the National Association of the State Boards of Education. Four years later, she was appointed to serve on the National Institute of Education's National Panel of Advisors.

Born Rosemary Kelly on Nov. 3, 1917, in Farley, Iowa, she was the sixth of seven children of Andrew and Regina Kelly. She earned a bachelor's degree in economics from the University of Iowa in 1939 and later earned a teaching certificate in special education. She came to Las Vegas in 1959.

A prominent civic leader, she served on the Clark County Medical Auxiliary, Rose de Lima Medical Auxiliary, county and state Mental Health Associations, Clark County League of Women Voters, Women's Democratic Club of Clark County and Nevada State Democratic Central Committee, among other organizations.

She moved to Pahrump in 1982 and served eight years on the Nye County Board of Education, seven as its president. In 1995 a Nye County school was named for her.

Clarke is survived by two daughters, Carol Malafa and Kathleen Clarke; a son, James Clarke III; a sister, Hildred Kelly; and three grandchildren. She was preceded in death in 1995 by her husband of 54 years, Dr. James Y. Clarke, former Clark County medical examiner and a noted pathologist.

The family requests memorial donations be made to the library of Rosemary Clarke Middle School of Pahrump, 4201 N. Blagg Road, Pahrump, NV 89060.