Patricia Allan-Clark
Obituary of Patricia Dorothy Allan-Clark
Predeceased by her father, Douglas Gordon Allan, of Lindsey, ON, and stepfather, Willis David Hamilton, of Saint John, NB. Survived by her husband, Craig Anthony Clark and her mother, Marjorie Wingfield Hamilton, both of Saint John, NB, stepmother, Judy LeFeuvre-Allan of Lindsey, ON, brothers, David Arthur Allan (Susan) of Chicago, IL and Robert Bruce Allan (Taimi), of Montreal, QC, as well as nieces, Emily and Charlotte (Kamil), of Chicago, IL, Hamilton step sister, Alice Hamilton-Mjaatvedt (Corey) and Hamilton step-brothers, James (Brenda), David, Robert, John (Heather) and Patrick. Special mention to Sylvia Borsic of Saint John, NB, lifelong family friends, Oliver Jones and his wife, Monique of Montreal and Alice Robichaud and the late Florence Tucker, both of Hainesville, NB.
Patricia dedicated her life to helping others. She was a graduate of the Sorbonne in Paris. She held a BA in Political Science from McGill University and a diploma in Social Policy Administration from Université de Montréal. She was fluent in English, French and Spanish. The focus of her professional work, all with NGOs and nonprofits, was community development. She worked internationally for many years with the Canadian Institute of Cultural Affairs (ICA Canada) throughout Côte d’Ivoire and Niger, as well as in Madrid, Spain. In Canada, she worked with inner city development agencies in Montreal and New Brunswick. Following positions with the NB Labour Development Board in Fredericton, the Saint John Human Development Council and the Saint John Learning Exchange, she spent fifteen years with the Saint John Family Resource Centre. In these New Brunswick nonprofits, she worked on initiatives ranging from entrepreneurial micro-loan programs to parenting programs with single mothers, children and immigrants.
Patricia’s devotion to historically marginalized people and communities was inspired by the untold hardships experienced by her Ukranian-Hungarian grandparents who had immigrated to the prairies of Western Canada in the early part of the 20th century. Her family story is captured in a wonderful book on the subject by her mother Marjorie, entitled “Luckless Pioneers.”
Patricia’s indomitable spirit and positive nature enabled her to face her own hardships head-on, among them an early, life-changing diagnosis of Turner’s Syndrome and an illness contracted abroad mid-career that required a recovery period of over a year.
Patricia will be greatly missed by her family and everybody else who knew and loved her.
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Friends and colleagues, My old and dear friend, David Allan, gave me permission to share the news of Patricia Allan-Clark’s passing last month. I don’t know the details around her death, but David clearly was shocked, so I assume it was not expected. While I didn’t know Patricia well, we spent a couple of fun days together in Madrid when I was 21 and she was 23, following my year in Rome. I know she was a woman of service who gave her all for others. In gratitude,
~~ Shelley Hahn
Hello friends, I’m very sorry to hear this sad news. Grace and peace,
~~ Isobel Bishop