ALICE CLARK

(nee Reinke)
The family of Alice Clark is saddened to announce her passing.

Alice, the daughter of Alfred and Wilma Reinke, was born in Port Arthur in 1955. After completing university she began her career with the T. Eaton Co., as a sales supervisor and buyer, then moved to Eaton Financial Services as a financial advisor and then her "dream job" as she called it, as a faculty and coordinator in the Business Marketing program at Confederation College. She spent 30 years teaching, and loved seeing students achieve their goals and was happy to celebrate their successes. Lorne used to joke about how long it took to go grocery shopping with Alice, because she would run into so many of her alumni, and needed to stop to catch up on what was happening to them.

Alice was overjoyed when she became an aunt to Lindsay and Ashley who brought much happiness and laughter on their many visits to Thunder Bay and those special sleepovers.

Alice has always considered herself very fortunate to have lifelong friends in her life. From kindergarten on like Deb and Tarja, The Posse, nicknamed because they were long-time buddies AND the wedding advisors, Fran, Janet, Julie, and Joanne as well as her long-time friend Carole. The Posse dinners were a favourite pastime, allowing them to spend a few hours catching up, laughing until tears rolled down their faces, and just enjoying each other's company.

In 2003, she met the love of her life - Lorne Clark, thanks to her manager Marlene Lindsay deciding that "two nice people" should meet. Lorne often kidded her about being "uber-schmitten" in love with her. She couldn't believe she'd found her soul mate, a loving and kind soul who Alice said kept her calm and grounded. They married in 2004. Alice and Lorne were in the midst of deciding how to celebrate 20 very happy years of marriage.

In retirement, Alice decided to do all the things she never had time to do...so she became very active with Isthmus Thunder Bay, a charity that provides food on the weekends to food insecure children in our community. She also became more physically active and met a whole new set of friends at her exercise classes. Walking became a favourite pastime with her friend Maija, and the two of them spent many hours walking and laughing. Alice referred to these walks as the best therapy anyone could ask for.

God daughter Sophie and her brother Matt have provided countless hours of fun and laughter while they tried to beat their Auntie Alice at UNO!

In 2016 Alice and Lorne introduced themselves to their new neighbors, who happened to be from Syria. As they stood there trying to explain that they were the people from across the street, and watched the bewildered looks on the family's faces, Lorne and Alice were determined to try and help them settle in. That meeting led to getting to know the Alhmade family. Alice and Lorne became very close to Ahmad, Afaf and their children Hiba, Mohamad, Mona, Ali and Abrahim and consider them to be family.

Alice is survived by her loving husband Lorne, her sister Trudy (Pat), nieces Lindsay and Ashley, her brother Gerry (Kathy), sister-in-law Heather, nephews Mark (Michelle) and their children Kieran and Aidan, Andy (Alison) and niece Jessica, sister-in-law Thelma, Joanne, Lee (Erin), Lisa and families including God Daughter Sophie, Afaf and Ahmad and family and numerous cousins. She was predeceased by her parents Alfred and Wilma Reinke and her in-laws Max and Hettie Clark.

A small service for family will be held at Christ Lutheran Church with Pastor Peter Noble officiating. In the spring, a Celebration of Life in honour of Alice will take place for family, friends, colleagues and more. Details regarding the date, time, and location will be shared at a later date.

In lieu of flowers, Alice's wishes were that contributions be made to Isthmus Thunder Bay(on the "Donate" page, under "Donate To" select "Thunder Bay" from the drop down list) or to Christ Lutheran Evangelical Church (47 Walkover Street, Thunder Bay).

Alice firmly believed that you should try to help others, and as her last wish, please consider reaching out to those less fortunate, to those who may be struggling, and those who may need a helping hand or a kind word.