RUTH JOHANNA CLARK
June 12, 1927 to December 9, 2022
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma

Ruth's Obituary

Ruth Johanna Clark, nee Dudt, died at age 97 in Oklahoma City, OK, at the Concordia Life Plan Community on December 9, 2022, after two years of declining health. Born the eldest daughter of Robert Theodore Dudt and Johanna Catherine Leu on June 12, 1925, she grew up on Garfield Hill in Pittsburgh. She attended Peabody High School and worked at the Pittsburgh Board of Education and the Ensign and Chambers advertising agencies, becoming Treasurer at the latter. Through her employer’s interest in international students, she met her husband, John Beverley Clark, a Canadian, in 1950, when he was a graduate student at the Carnegie Institute of Technology. They were married on Sept 1st, 1951, and moved to Midland, Michigan, where their three children were born. They subsequently lived in Detroit, MI; Rolla, MO, Bethesda, MD; Murrysville, PA; and finally, Oklahoma City, OK.

Active in all the churches to which they belonged, Ruth was a Sunday School teacher and superintendent, financial secretary, and volunteer for all sorts of projects. She also taught literacy to adults and helped people with their taxes. During her time in Rolla, MO, where her husband was a Professor of Metallurgy at the University of Missouri-Rolla, she was very active in the WAAIME (Women’s Auxiliary to the American Institute of Mining Engineers), supporting mining and metallurgical education worldwide. Always a gracious hostess, she particularly enjoyed hosting gatherings of students.

Ruth was predeceased by her husband, “Bev”, and previously by her brother, Robert Frederick Dudt, and her sister, Dorothy Clara Busche. She is survived by her son, Harold Clark (Linda), daughter Elizabeth Seaman (David), and son Fraser Clark (Dale); sister, Grace Theodora Younginger, sister-in-law, Joelle Alexis Dudt; grandchildren, Alexander Clark (Jillian), Clara Seaman (Michael), Chester Seaman, and Andrew Clark (Alexandra); great-grandson, Benjamin Clark; cousins, Carolyn and Walter Rutkowski; and beloved nieces and nephews in the USA and Canada. A funeral service will be held at the Temple of Memories, Allegheny Cemetery, Pittsburgh, PA, at 11 am on Saturday, January 7th, followed by interment of ashes. In lieu of flowers, memorial gifts are suggested for Allegheny Cemetery Historical Association for preservation, renovation, and upkeep; or for Benevolent Care at either Concordia Life Plan Community, Oklahoma City, OK, or Presbyterian Senior Care at Oakmont, Oakmont, PA.