Brenda Clark

Services for Brenda Getty Clark, 87, of Ada are 2:00 p.m. Sunday at the First Presbyterian Church, Rev. Scott White will officiate. The family will receive friends from 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. Saturday at Criswell Funeral Home.

Mrs. Clark passed away Wednesday, January 8, 2020 at her home surrounded by her family. She was born May 6, 1932 at Wenatchee, WA to Oscar and Mona Thorp Getty (early settlers at Lucerne, WA in the Cascade Mountains). Brenda grew up off the grid and on the back of a horse from infancy to adulthood. She and her brother attended a one room school.

Brenda graduated as a registered nurse at Deaconess Hospital in Wenatchee, WA. While employed as an RN, she married her first husband and moved to San Manuel, AZ where they had three daughters. She spent several years working at home and during that time was involved in many community activities including Red Cross Blood Drives, multiple bridge clubs and was instrumental in forming the first AA meetings in the area. When she returned to work as an RN, she worked for several years in the ICU at St. Joseph's Hospital in Tucson, AZ. She later took a position as Director of Nursing at St. Joseph's Hospital in Nogales, AZ. After several years in that position, she joined the Indian Health Service as Director of Nursing in Belcourt, ND, moving from the Mexican border to the Canadian border. In 1975, she relocated to Talihina, OK where she served as Director of Nursing for multiple years before finishing her career in opening the Indian Health Service hospital in Ada, where she has lived since 1979.

Brenda was married to Don Clark July 3, 1982 and they have been dancing, traveling and gardening together for 37 years. They were known to their families for the fabulous Christmas and Easter parties and decorations that brought together a busload of happy grandchildren. Don and Brenda have together volunteered in numerous causes during their retirement years, especially at their church.

Survivors include her husband, Don Clark, of the home; three daughters, Terri Coulter, Lynn Coulter and Judy Dunning; her step-children, Mark Clark and Debbie Vogt; 14 grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

She was preceded in death by her parents and a brother, Harold Getty.