Wife of former Ricks College president dies
- posted: 06 Nov. 2007
- scrollcampus@byui.edu
Margaret LaRae Pickett King Clarke, 78, wife of former BYU-Idaho President, John L. Clarke, died Oct. 19, 2007, at Madison Memorial Hospital from causes related to age.
Clarke was born Feb. 22, 1929, in Logan, Utah, and lived in Ammon during her years in elementary and high school. She was part of the second class to receive a bachelor’s degree in speech and drama with a minor in education from Ricks College in 1951, achieving her degree in four years.
She pursued graduate studies at Fresno State University, the University of California at Santa Barbara and the University of Hawaii.
Clarke was honored as Outstanding Junior College Teacher of the Year by the National Education Association and the California Teacher Association in 1966. She was a teacher at Porterville High School and Porterville College in California for 12 years. Prior to this, she taught at Sugar-Salem High School in Sugar City, Idaho.
Clarke taught for four years at BYU-Hawaii, serving as the department chair of the speech and drama departments two of those years. Her husband, LeRoy King, died in Laie, Oahu, Hawaii, in 1969.
Returning to Ricks College in 1970, Clarke was a teacher in the Communication Department. That same year, she married Ricks College president John L. Clarke, the man for whom the John L. Clarke building is named. In 1971, they were called to preside over the New England Mission for three years.
After their mission, President Clarke retired, and his wife returned to Ricks College to work as the associate dean of student life for 20 years. At Ricks, she was honored as an Elect Lady of Lambda Delta Sigma, Exemplary Woman of the Year and Exemplary Administrator of the Year. She also received the Golden Gleaner award.
Clarke is survived by three children, three stepchildren, 17 grandchildren, and nine great-grandchildren. Margaret LaRae Clarke was buried in the Rexburg Cemetery on Wednesday, Oct. 24, 2007. 
