Eileen Clark

Eileen was born May 28, 1945 in Yakima, WA and kicked off a lifetime of semi-nomadic life when the family moved to New York when she was just 4 months old. She moved many times after this before graduating from high school in Mount Angel, OR in 1963. She attended four different colleges, eventually graduating from Portland State with a degree in English. Eileen was teaching in Metlakatla, AK when she met Wayne Clark who was serving in the Coast Guard. The couple bounced around a bit then moved back to Alaska where Eileen taught in Pelican, before moving to Homer in 1989 where she taught 2nd/3rd grade for a year at McNeil Canyon Elementary. She then took a job at Homer High School where she taught English to the majority of a full generation of HHS Freshman (including her own daughter) until her retirement in 2003. While teaching, Eileen earned a masters from Middlebury’s Bread Loaf School of English and later worked summers as an administrative assistant for that program in Juneau, Santa Fe and Oxford, England. After retirement, Eileen and Wayne moved to Coupeville, WA where they finally settled down a bit and Eileen enjoyed her hobbies involving fiber arts and reading and became active in the Keepers of Admiralty Head Lighthouse.

Eileen is remembered by all who knew her for her wonderful smile, razor-sharp wit and strong, independent spirit. We also desperately wish she were here to help proofread this obituary and to tell us where to properly use semicolons to avoid run-on sentences.

Eileen is survived by her husband of 52 years, Wayne, daughter Bryn (Louis), granddaughter Aven and younger brothers Bob, Jeff (Annelizabeth), Gary and Roger (Pam). Eileen was preceded in death by her parents Jim and Lorraine, sister-in-law Betty, and baby sister Jennifer.

A celebration of life will be held at the Homer Seaplane Base at 3pm on Saturday, May 23.