Katherine Clarke

Katherine M. Clarke, aged 70, died on January 15, 2024 at Cheshire Medical Center in Keene, N.H. attended by family and a cherished friend. Katherine is survived by her spouse, The Rev. Lily DeYoung, her sister Nora Clarke and her partner Pete Perkins, her sister-in-law Sherry Mackoff, her niece Shayna and nephew Peter, a brand new grandnephew, and many longtime friends, both Canadian and American.  She was predeceased by her parents Richard Alexander and Nancy Clarke and her brother Stephen.

Born in Vancouver, B.C., Canada Katherine was an accomplished academic, writer and educational leader. Her innate intuition, keen listening and observational skills and compassionate voice found full expression in the field of psychology. She graduated from the University of British Columbia (BA, 1975; MA,1977) and earned her doctorate from Loyola University of Chicago (1981.)  

Her achievements were extensive and contributed to the well-being of others.  She was Director of the Pastoral Counselling Program at St. Paul University, Ottawa, Canada (1983-1989) and later Director of the St. Paul University Counselling Center (1989-1992).  She was a Clinical Fellow in Psychology and Religion at Harvard Medical School (1987-1988.) She joined the Weston Jesuit School of Theology (Cambridge, MA.) in 1992 as an Associate Professor of Pastoral Counseling. She became Chair of the Department in 1977.  After earning an MBA at Simmons School of Management (Boston) in 1998, she became Weston’s VP of Finance and Administration.

Moving to San Francisco in 2002, Katherine served as VP of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty for Saybrook Graduate School and Research Center. She returned to New England in 2005 where she was appointed Chair of the Department of Applied Psychology of Antioch University of New England. She was later named its VP for Academic Affairs.

Her teaching interests included organizational change, leadership, counseling theory, psychology and spirituality. Her research interests included meaning-making (decades before it was a thing) and spiritual resilience in persons living with disabilities. She was a generous mentor, gifted at helping people hear their own inner voice and strength.  She had a quick and dry sense of humor, was unbeatable at Scrabble and forgave without taking hostages.

In retirement, Katherine served as Chair of the Board of the Monadnock Humane Society before moving to Sarasota, Florida to explore retired life without snow. After run ins with hurricanes and alligators, she and Lily decided snow was not so bad and they moved back to their home in Marlborough.  By then, Katherine had begun studying and writing poetry.  Her work was published in Breath and Shadow, Wordgathering, Northern New England Review and Touchstone. She won the Amy Lowell Award in 2021 from the New England Poetry Club. More of her prose writing can be found at https://katherinemclarke.com/.

In 2020 she began teaching Poetry at Keene State’s Cheshire Academy for Lifelong Learning, working with retired women and men who were beginning or continuing their own poetry practice. She taught for three years and looked forward to every single class.

Katherine lived her entire life with multiple disabilities due to a genetic condition called Charcot-Marie-Tooth (CMT.) She never let her disabilities define her: red cowboy boots couldn’t be fitted with braces but she made sure that when she needed a wheelchair, it was red. And when a wheelchair van was needed, it too was red: the Red Rover.

For the last ten years, pain and weakness were constant and intrusive realities. She refused to let them slow her down or keep her isolated. She did the exercises prescribed by the physical therapist, along with some she made up herself because “if you can move a muscle, you can strengthen it.” She kept up a meditation practice and learned self-hypnosis.

She did not complain much about her problems, except that she was pretty fed up with the barriers which exclude people with disabilities. She was known to point out that in the battle for civil rights, persons with disabilities are just about the last group of people to be noticed.

A friend of hers wrote that it is hard to imagine the world without her. Indeed. But many who knew her also believe that the world is now a better place, because she helped so many of us become better people. May Katherine’s memory be for a blessing.

A community gathering will take place on Friday, February 9 from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.in Reynolds Hall, across the street from All Saints Episcopal Church, Peterborough, N.H. A funeral service in the church will follow. All are welcome!

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In Katherine’s honor, all are invited to develop their own awareness of the barriers faced by people with disabilities. Ask yourself if you could go to the places you want to go if you had to use a wheelchair. If the answer is no, consider bringing it to the attention of management. It will make a difference.