Update: please note service
arrangements for WA/DL Capt KB Clark and wife Cookie…..
MEMORIAL SERVICE
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Horan & McConaty - Aurora
11150 East Dartmouth Avenue
Aurora, CO 80014
RECEPTION
Tuesday, August 9, 2022
2:00 PM to 4:00 PM
HeartLight Center
11150 East Dartmouth Avenue
Denver, CO 80014
INTERMENT
Wednesday, August 10, 2022
11:00 AM
Air Force Academy Cemetery
5136 Eagle Dr.
Colorado Springs, CO 80840
https://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/2022/08/wadl-capt-kirk-blystone-kb-clark.html
https://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/2022/07/georgiann-sue-cookie-clark-wife-of-wadl.html
~ IN MEMORY ~
USAF veteran, WA/DL Capt.
Kirk Blystone “KB” Clark
October 16, 1940 ~ July
31, 2022
~ IN MEMORY ~
Georgiann Sue
"Cookie" Clark, wife of WA/DL Capt. Kirk Clark
March 15, 1942 ~ July 25,
2022
Please note:
Condolences for the family should be sent c/o
Kevin Clark
19385 E. Prentice Lane
Centennial, CO 80015~ IN MEMORY ~
Georgiann Sue "Cookie" Clark, wife of
WA/DL Capt. Kirk Clark
March 15, 1942 ~ July 25, 2022
Notification with the passing of Georgiann Sue
"Cookie" (Schaaf) Clark, age 80, wife of retired Western/Delta pilot
Captain Kirk B. Clark. Captain Clark
joined Western Airlines 10-28-1968 and retired with Delta Air Lines, based
JFK/031 at the time of his retirement.
To view the obituary with photos, and to share
memories online, please visit
https://www.horancares.com/obituary/GeorgiannSue-Clark
Condolences may be sent to the family at
355 Oakland St
Aurora, CO 80010
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Obituary : Georgiann Sue “Cookie” (Schaaf) Clark,
age 80, passed away at the Assured Assisted Living Memory Care Home in
Centennial, CO on July 25, 2022 from Alzheimer’s Disease.
Cookie was born March 15, 1942 in Eau Claire, WI.
Her parents were Gerald Schaaf and Juanita (Budrow) Schaaf. She has one
brother, John Schaaf, of Eau Claire. She is married to Kirk B. Clark, also
originally of Eau Claire, now living in Centennial, CO. They have two sons:
Kevin Clark of Centennial, CO, and Scott Clark, of Santa Fe, TX.
Cookie Clark lived a wonderful life as a daughter,
a sister, an Air Force fighter pilot’s wife, a mother, a teacher, a
grandmother, a great-grandmother, a cousin, an aunt, and a friend. Her life has
been filled with love and laughter, education, adventure, and fun.
Cookie was born and raised in Eau Claire, WI, and
she was always an Eau Claire girl. She lived in a house on Half Moon Lake near
Carson Park where she was able to watch the great baseball player Hank Aaron
play for the minor league Eau Claire Bears, a farm club for the Boston Braves,
in 1952. Cookie’s brother John is a huge sports fan, and she shares her love of
sports with him and her whole family.
From an early age, Cookie always knew she wanted
to be a teacher. As a child, she would line up her dolls in rows, give each one
a book and proceed to teach class every day. After raising her family, Cookie
fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher. She taught Kindergarten and Second
Grade at Jewell Elementary School in Aurora, CO for 20 years before retiring in
2000.
Cookie loved growing up in Eau Claire. She enjoyed
figure skating on Half Moon Lake during the winters. She learned to swim at the
Eau Claire YMCA, and she attended the YMCA’s Camp Manitou in the summers.
Cookie has a strong Christian faith that was
nurtured at Grace Lutheran Church in Eau Claire. She was baptized, confirmed,
and married at Grace Lutheran. She enjoyed attending church and singing in the
choir wherever she happened to live at the time. While living in Aurora, CO,
she was active at Faith Presbyterian Church. She sang in the choir for many
years and served as a Deacon.
Cookie attended Eau Claire Memorial High School
(Class of 1960). She enjoyed high school and was a cheerleader during her
senior year.
In high school, Cookie met the man she would
eventually marry, Kirk B. Clark. Kirk played football and baseball in high
school.
After high school, Kirk went off to the Air Force
Academy in Colorado Springs, CO. After Kirk graduated from the Academy, these
two high school sweethearts would marry on June 30, 1962, at Grace Lutheran
Church in Eau Claire. This was the start of Cookie’s next big adventure as the
wife of a fighter pilot and the mother of two boys.
Cookie and Kirk have two sons, Kevin, and Scott.
Kevin and his wife Cheryl (Lesh) live in Centennial, CO. Scott and his wife
Laura (Cullen) live in Sante Fe, TX. Cookie has five grandchildren and three
great-grandchildren. Kevin and Cheryl have three sons: Andrew Clark, Matthew
Clark, and Aaron Clark. They live in the Denver, CO, metro area. Scott and
Laura have two daughters: Jordan Rusk (Brad) and Connor Jennings (Mitchell).
Jordan and Brad have three children: two boys, Lincoln Rusk, and Jackson Rusk,
and one girl, Madison Rusk. All of Scott and Laura’s children and grandchildren
live in the Houston, TX metro area.
Mom always put family first. To Kevin and Scott,
she was absolutely the best Mom ever! She was a source of unconditional love.
She always made life a fun adventure. She was our first and best teacher. She
was the strength and the glue that held our family together as we moved all
over the country and around the world since my Dad was a fighter pilot in the
Air Force and then a pilot with Western and Delta Airlines.
Since Dad was gone about half the time flying for
the Air Force and for the airlines, Mom was a single Mom for much of the time,
holding down the fort and raising us kids. She could do it all, and she did it
with style and grace.
While Kirk was in the Air Force, and flying as an
airline pilot, Cookie and the family were stationed in Phoenix, AZ; Royal Air
Force Base Lakenheath, England; Seattle, WA; Anchorage, AK; Tucson, AZ;
Minneapolis, MN and Denver, CO. Mom was always able to make a wonderful, loving
home for us wherever we were living.
Mom earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Education from
Colorado Women’s College in 1981 and then began a twenty year teaching career.
She taught Kindergarten and Second Grade at Jewell Elementary School in Aurora,
CO and retired in 2000. Along the way she earned a Master’s Degree in Education
from Lesley College, MA.
Kevin and Scott agree that Cookie was a great Mom.
She made everything fun. She took us on many adventures including the zoo,
museums, amusement parks, movies, putt-putt golfing, swimming, and always took
us to the library.
Cookie may have started her career as a
cheerleader in high school, but she was a cheerleader by nature and a
cheerleader in life. To Scott and Kevin, she was our greatest cheerleader,
attending our sporting events in little league, youth soccer, youth basketball,
and high school soccer and basketball. She supported her children and
grandchildren in all their activities including sports (soccer, basketball,
lacrosse) and the arts (piano, theatre, dance). She cheered us all on in every
endeavor including life. For example,
she loved Harry Potter books and always took her grandson Andrew to The
Tattered Cover bookstore for the release parties when a new Harry Potter book
would come out. She attended hundreds of soccer games to watch Kevin, Scott,
Aaron, and Andrew compete. She attended horse riding events and Special
Olympics for Matthew. She supported Jordan in her dance activities and
competitions including dancing in Texas, a two-week dance workshop in Boulder,
CO, and dance performances in New York and Boston. Cookie also attended Connor’s
dance performances in Texas and supported Connor in her Future Farmers of
America activities and competitions. Cookie supported both Jordan and Connor in
their many educational and academic efforts and achievements.
In addition to cheering for her family in all
their activities, she loved cheering for her home state teams of the Green Bay
Packers and the University of Wisconsin Badgers. She cheered for all the Air
Force Academy teams and would often attend Air Force football games with Kirk.
She also enjoyed rooting for all the Colorado professional sports teams
including the Broncos, the Avalanche, the Nuggets and the Rockies.
Mom was very competitive, and she enjoyed playing
games of all kinds: tennis, racquetball, croquet, ping-pong, card games, and
board games. She definitely knew how to have fun!
The last few years of Cookie’s life have been
difficult because she had Alzheimer’s Disease. Thankfully, she knew her family
right to the end and Kevin was able to be with her when she died peacefully in her
bed on July 25, 2022.
Cookie’s most lasting legacy is the gift of love.
She was a source of unconditional love to her family and especially to her
children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Everyone that got to know her
loved her because she loved them. She offered that profound gift of love to
everyone including all the students she taught over those twenty years.
Cookie was a happy, loving person who loved
helping others, teaching children, and cheering them on so that they can be the
best person they can be and achieve their goals in life.
Much like her name, Cookie, she was just plain
sweet and wonderful. Not to mention that she made some of the best chocolate
chip cookies on the planet!
We love you Mom! You will be missed. We look
forward to eating some of your chocolate chip cookies again when we see you in
heaven.
Cookie is survived by her husband Kirk Clark of
Centennial, CO; her sons Kevin Clark (Cheryl) of Centennial, CO and Scott Clark
(Laura) of Santa Fe, TX; her grandsons Andrew Clark, Matthew Clark, and Aaron
Clark of Denver, CO; her granddaughters Jordan Rusk (Brad) and Connor Jennings
(Mitchell) of Houston, TX; her great-grandchildren Lincoln Rusk, Jackson Rusk,
and Madison Rusk of Houston, TX; her brother John Schaaf (Nancy) of Eau Claire,
WI; her niece Sara (Schaaf) Jappinen (husband Mark) of Oconomowoc, WI, and
additional extended family members.
Cookie was preceded in death by her parents Gerald
Schaaf and Juanita (Budrow) Schaaf; and her nephew Mark Schaaf.
A Memorial Service and Celebration of Life will be
scheduled at a later date for family and friends.
In lieu of flowers, Memorial Contributions may be
made to the Eau Claire YMCA. To make a gift, please call Suzie Slota, Director
of Mission Advancement, at 715-839-4631 or email her at sslota@ymca-cv.org To
find out more about the great work of the Eau Claire YMCA in the community,
please view their website at YMCA of the Chippewa Valley at www.ymca-cv.org
John was a good high school student and a skilled athlete. After high school he attended college in Iowa, enrolling in a two-year Associate Degree program. This academic work qualified him to apply for the US Air Force Aviation Cadet Pilot Training program. The Aviation Cadet program became John’s ticket to a future in the cockpit. Upon completing Undergraduate Pilot Training John was awarded his silver wings and passed to Tinker AFB, OK for training in the C-124 Globemaster. His final (PCS) assignment was to the 62
