Betty Clark of Allen, Texas went to be with the Lord on August 15, 2018, at the age of 96. She was born on December 3, 1921, to George Livingston and Marjorie (Johnson) Livingston in National City, California. Elizabeth was named after her maternal great-grandmother, Elizabeth Grey, who was born in Leicester, England on December 3, 1890. Her grandfather, Dr. Theodore Johnson, delivered her in a “lying-in home” in National City, California. When Elizabeth was ten days old, she and her mother were brought to San Diego near the campus of San Diego State College where her father taught mathematics. This house was home to her and her two brothers and one sister for about twelve years. The family was all active in the First Baptist Church where Elizabeth accepted Christ and was baptized in 1933 when she was twelve years old. In 1935, when the college moved to its new location in East San Diego and became San Diego State University, the family moved to their new house on 55th Street. Elizabeth went to Hoover High School and graduated in 1939 with a scholarship to the University of Redlands, California.
At the University of Redlands, Elizabeth was active in the Women’s Glee Club which went on tour during Easter vacations. She also learned to play the pipe organ and was active in the choir of the First Baptist Church and youth activities. After graduation in 1943 from the University of Redlands with a B.A. degree in sociology, Elizabeth decided to get a master’s degree in Religious Education at the American Baptist Seminary of the West in Berkeley, California. Soon after her enrollment there, she saw a notice on the bulletin board posted by a ministerial student by the name of Buford Clark wanting a pianist and soloist to go with him to conduct services at other churches and the Richmond shipyards. Elizabeth answered the ad and the rest is history. She and Buford were married on June 11, 1944 in San Diego and they went back to Berkeley for their second year, living on campus for $20.00 per month rent. They both graduated in 1945—Elizabeth with a Masters of Art in Religious Education and he with a masters in divinity. Their first daughter, Carol Elizabeth, was born in San Diego in 1945.
After a few months in San Diego they were called to Brea (Orange County) where Buford became pastor of the First Baptist Church. In 1947 they accepted the pastorate of the Laurel Road Baptist Church in Bellingham, Washington. Betty was active with the Women’s Mission Society and keeping house in a larger two-story parsonage. It was a rural church with a lot of farmers who kept “the pastor’s family” supplied with meat and produce. Their son, John Livingston, was born there in 1949 and she was kept busy with two young children and serving as hostess for women’s gatherings at the church and parsonage. The winter of 1949-50 proved to be a new experience for Betty who had always lived in sunny California—this meant snow suits, mittens and John’s diapers freezing in the diaper pail.
When the family moved in 1952 to Raymond, Washington, rain was the problem. It rained all the time—so hard they could not see across the street to the Carol’s school. John was very sickly and pale, and the doctor told them if they did not want to lose him, they should move to a sunnier climate. They resigned from that pastorate and drove back to San Diego, leaving their tiny stillborn daughter, Melva Lucinda, born in 1953 in a nearby cemetery. While in route to San Diego, they received word that Betty’s father had died, so they decided to go directly there to be with her mother. This move resulted in an eleven-year pastorate of the Logan Heights Baptist Church in San Diego where Betty was busy with organ playing and women’s activities. In San Diego, daughters Marcia Ann and Sylvia Joyce were born in 1957 and 1959. The racial tension in that area in 1963-64 was beginning to affect the children, especially John who was in high school.
Another Baptist church across the bay in Coronado needed a pastor, so they moved there in 1964. This pastorate probably would have been longer, but Buford’s voice was affected by the fumes in the air from the jet fuel of the airplanes from the nearby North Island Naval Air Station—so they moved back to San Diego with her mother. Shortly after this move, Betty’s mother died. After selling her house, they bought a large house in the South Park area of San Diego where they lived for 40 years. Buford earned a real estate broker’s license and Betty was busy with Baptist women’s activities, both local and state, serving as church organist and other activities, including managing a thrift shop for three years.
They celebrated their Golden Wedding Anniversary in Colorado Springs in 1994 with most of their family present. Buford began having trouble getting around their large property, so they decided to put their house on the market and move to an apartment in Allen, Texas where their daughter, Carol’s family lived. After the house was sold and they disposed of 40 years’ worth of stuff, they moved in May of 2007. They joined the First Baptist Church of Allen and the Senior Recreation Center where they took part in lunches and other activities. They attended church regularly even though Buford was becoming weaker. Buford died of a stroke in May 2009, just missing their 65th wedding anniversary by three weeks.
After Buford went to be with the Lord, Betty was determined not to sit around and mope. She joined Louise Philip’s Bible Class at First Baptist and had a great time participating in many activities with those wonderful ladies. Betty also took several trips to visit friends and family and even went on an Alaska cruise. She lived by herself in an apartment until last year when she went to live at Alexis Estates retirement home in Allen. This was a special time and Betty made many friends. Her last days were spent at Gracious Care A&V group home where she received loving care.
Betty is survived by three daughters, Carol Cocking and husband, Robert of Allen, Texas, Marcia Kawamoto and husband, Richard of Clovis, California; Sylvia Foust and husband, Tom of Ravenna, Michigan; son, John Livingston and wife, Ruth of Granger, Washington; grandchildren, Jeff Cocking and wife, Kim of Cypress, Texas; David Cocking and wife, Marquetta of Royse City, Texas; Beth Mills of McKinney, Texas; Perry Clark of Granger, Washington; Katie Kawamoto of Burbank, California; Kimmie Kawamoto of Fresno, California; Sarah Sprague and husband, Aaron of Lebanon, Ohio; Erika Bengry and husband, Jeremy of Whitehall, Michigan; great grandchildren, Dr. Christina Wallace and husband, Chris of Morgantown, West Virginia; Jonathan Cocking of Lewisville, Texas; Daniel Cocking of Cypress, Texas; Mason Leech and wife, Tiffany of Wylie, Texas; Dawson Leech and wife, Courtney of Royse City, Texas; Logan Dye of Royse City, Texas; Samantha Whitney and husband, Justin of Royse City, Texas; Caleb Mills of Plano, Texas; Liam and Emilia Sprague of Lebanon, Ohio; Olivia, Douglas and Thomas Bengry of Whitehall, Michigan; and four great-great-grandchildren, Katie Whitney, Cooper Leech, Landrie Leech, and Ava Mae Whitney who is on the way.
Betty was preceded in death by her husband, Buford Homer Clark; infant daughter, Melva Lucinda; parents, George and Marjorie Livingston; brothers, Ted Livingston and Paul Livingston; and sister, Lois Girbach.
A funeral service will be held at 10:00 a.m., Monday, August 20, 2018 at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home Chapel, 2525 Central Expressway North, Allen, Texas. The family will receive friends during a visitation on Sunday from 3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow in Allen, Texas
Memorials may be made in Betty’s honor to Gideons International, Plano West Camp P.O. Box 260768, Plano, Texas 75026.