CLARK, ELMA C. (Mrs. J. Avery Smith, Jr.) R.F. D. No.2. Pocomoke City Md.
Marriage: 1936. Husband: Wagner College; Pace Institute; Buyer for
General Foods; now buyer for Birdseye.
Children: 4 boys, 15, 9, 5 and 31/2; 2 girls, 12 and 7.
Academic work: Presbyterian Hospital School of Nursing in New York,
1933-36.
Jobs: General duty at Presbyterian Hospital, 1936; Private duty,
1937-43.
Volunteer: Sunday School Class: Red Cross Bloodmobile: choir at church.
Organizations: President, Young Women's Guild of Episcopal Church; PTA,
Band Parents' Club.
Recreations: Bridge, violin, golf. watching baseball, taking fresh-air
children in summer.
Politics: Democrat, 1936-52. Republican 1952. (I seldom vote.)
Household: 8 room house in country. somewhat decrepit. Family includes
my mother, husband, 6 children, 2 cats, 3 dogs and me.
Places N Y C, 1936-46; Pocomoke City. 1946-48; on the farm since '48.
"I am convinced that the Christian religion is superior to all others, but that in all religions there is some element of truth. Today's Christians are probably to blame for the troubles of the world because they do not speak their faith enough or practice its principles faithfully. Our only salvation is in prayer and study.
"A college education has helped me in ways I am still discovering. The study of literature was probably the most important thing. The study of science was a great help in answering children's questions. My answers may often be inaccurate; but are usually satisfying to the little person asking the question. What my education lacked was probably something that should have been stressed in primary school: I do not have and never did have good common sense. I cannot make decisions quickly or act helpfully in an emergency. There is something in the progressive methods of education now in use that seems to develop a sense of proportion and good judgment in children, even though they have only half as much Latin and about 1/10 as much English as we had."
35TH REUNION, 1967:
SM1TH,MRS. J. AVERY, JR. (Elma Clark) Rt. 2, Box 400, Pocomoke City, Md. 21851
Children and Grandchildren: David, Kathie, Joshua, Margaret,
Jonathan, Christopher; grandchildren, 5 boys and 7 girls.
Present job: Evening charge nurse at Hartley Hall Care and Convalescent
Home in Pocomoke.
Comments: My favorite haunts as a student at Vassar: the basement of
the Libe, with Quartos and Folios of art reproductions; the Chapel
(during "dark music"; the bridge across the brook; the observation
screens in the Nursery School; the lakes, the Pinewalk, and Circle with
gold tulips, mixed with forget-me-nots in flower beds. I was a sponge,
absorbing, but never giving. Now my favorite haunts are prep and
college campuses, hospitals with schools of nursing, the homes of my
married children, and my own home filled with grandchildren. If the
sponge ever "gave", it was perhaps while entertaining children; and
now, the old ladies at Hartley Hall, to whom I recite bits of poetry
from 40 years ago when poets wrote of tenderness and light. My husband
is still the most remarkable person I know. He has shepherded our
children to two high school valedictories, two prep school magna cum
laudes, one R.N., one B.S., one B.A., two M.A.s and one Ph.D. Just one
college sophomore. one high school senior, and one "early dropout" to
go!
Life is constantly fun.
40TH REUNION, 1972 [sic]:
SMITH, MRS. J. AVERY, JR. (Elma Clark)
P.O. Box 96, Pocomoke City, Md. 21851
Children and grandchildren: 1) David, 4 children: 2) Kathi,4 children;
3) Joshua A. III,
3 children; 4) Margaret, 3 children; 5) Jonathan; 6) Christopher.
David: B.Sc. from Trinity 1958, Ph.D. from Yale 1963, teaching math at
Duke U. 1962 to present. Kathi: R.N. from Delaware Hosp. S.N. 1962,
working at Cafritz Memorial Hosp. in D.C. since 1969. Joshua: B.A.
Trinity 1965, M.A. in Teaching, Harvard 1965, working for Urban Renewal
Team in Hartford. Margaret: Teacher's Aide in public school, Cleveland,
0. Jonathan: B.A. Harvard 1969, M.A. Indiana U. 1970, working at
Indiana U. as instructor, studying for Ph.D. Christopher: Air Force
1967-71, studying at Maryland U. at College Park.
Present Occupation: Night charge nurse at Hartley Hall Care and
Convalescent Home, Pocomoke.
News to be included: We have about 12 acres of land, mostly left to
landscape itself. Avery is semi-retired, plays golf daily. House full
of grandchildren all summer.
What are you for? I am for peace. I am not sure any of our wars have
been worth what they cost. If people could learn to respect and trust
one another, we could concentrate on humanity's real needs, instead of
destruction. I am for religion. God reveals himself in very different
ways to different groups of people--perhaps to individuals. Nobody has
a right to say "My religion is best for me; so it must be best for
you." We all need worship; but we must respect one another's ways of
worship. The best moral guide is still the one from Deuteronomy: 'Love
God with all thy heart; and thy neighbor as thyself."