Christine Spring

1943 - 2017

Christine Clark Spring

April 9,1943 — May 21, 2017

Christine ("Tina") Clark Spring (Christine Clark, MD), 74, grandmother, mother, wife, pediatrician, and good friend, died at her home in San Francisco in hospice care on May 21 from recurrent breast cancer. She accepted her inevitable death bravely and without fear. Her friends described her as kind, gracious, frank, loyal, intensely generous, frugal, energetic, and curious.

Born to Laura Alida Lippincott and Roger Wollaston Clark, Tina spent her formative years in Cincinnati, Ohio. She attended Seven Hills School (Cincinnati), Smith College, Dartmouth College and McGill University Medical Schools. Inquisitiveness and perseverance marked her studies in and beyond school. In college she majored in religion. Ever curious, she veered, however, toward engineering studies, and ultimately medicine.

She completed her pediatric residency at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and at the Montreal Children's Hospital, where she researched treatment and long-term outcomes for very low-birth-weight babies and consequently co-created the newborn follow-up clinic. In 1971, Dr. Clark moved out west with her husband to San Francisco, where she served as a pediatrician at SF General and UCSF and helped start the newborn follow-up clinic at Mt. Zion Hospital. For many years, Dr. Clark practiced as a pediatrician at the Mission Neighborhood Health Center. She felt strongly about helping children and their caregivers, thousands of whom benefited from her high standards and sparkling intelligence. Her priorities were apparent whenever there was a child in the room. She was a beloved teacher of younger physicians in training.

As with her medical career and other interests, Tina was "all in" as a grandparent, a role she loved. She regularly cared for her six grandchildren and made each visit special. Many of Tina's happiest moments were spent at the helm of a small, wooden sailboat on the waters of Pleasant Bay on Cape Cod. She loved sailing with her grandchildren and her friends, fervently competing in races, and exploring the bay. It was a place she appreciated for its beauty, but more importantly because it brought together a respect for the past with celebrating family time together.

Dr. Clark is survived by her husband, Dr. David Spring of San Francisco; daughter Rebecca Spring and son-in-law Andrew Thompson; daughter Jessica Carrie Spring and son-in-law Camilo Coelho; and son Jonathan Spring and daughter-in-law Jennifer Spring. She has 6 grandchildren: Aiden and Harper Thompson; Roque and Belén Coelho; and Henry and Thomas Spring. She leaves a sister, Laura Anne Crounse, and a sister-in-law Susan Kloster Spring, as well as a nephew and numerous nieces, and many cousins.