Mary Bernadette (McIsaac) Clarke (1926 - 1987)

Born 6 Sep 1926 in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada

Ancestors

Wife of Edmund John Potts — married about 1955 in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada

Wife of Patrick Joseph Clarke — married 15 Apr 1963 in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada

Descendants

Died 26 Jun 1987 at age 60 in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Greg Clarke [send private message]

Biography

Mary Bernadette was born on 6 September 1926 in Uptergrove to Dan McIsaac and Eva Mary Baye.

Bernadette, as she was known to family and friends, or sometimes just Bernie, was the oldest of eight children, six of whom survived to adulthood. She was often called on to help care for her younger siblings until she went away for school.

Bernadette was sent away for high school to St. Joseph's College School in Toronto and stayed at Loretto College with the nuns.

She continued her education in Toronto, studying Nursing at St. Michael's College where she got her degree.

Bernadette met and fell in love with Edmund John Potts, a pharmacist, who grew up in Barrie, Ontario. They were married and lived in Bermuda, and later in Montreal. However, Edmund was diagnosed with cancer, too late to deal with it. After that they left Montreal, and moved back to Bernadette's home in Uptergrove, where she nursed him during his final days. Edmund passed away on 12 August 1960 in his 36th year, and was buried on 15 August 1960 in the parish cemetery of St. Mary's Church, Barrie, Ontario, immediately following the funeral.

After a couple years, Bernadette was asked on a date by Pat Clarke (suggested by her brother, Basil McIsaac), and they were married on 15 April 1963 in Uptergrove at St. Columbkille's church. The reception was at Owassa Lodge, owned and operated by John R. McIsaac, a cousin of Bernadette's father.

In December 1965, Pat and Bernadette adopted Kelly John Douglas, who was born in Toronto on 16 January 1964, and he was renamed Gregory Patrick Clarke. They later adopted another boy in 1966, and then a baby girl in 1967.

Bernadette worked as a nurse in the operating room at Soldier's Memorial Hospital, but left that job once she adopted the children, and became a full time farm wife - looking after the kids and helping out with the chores on the farm - including the milking and the haying. She was a force to be reckoned with! (Too many stories to fit in a profile here!)

She was an avid reader (including Harlequin romance novels), and accomplished cook and baker. Greg's sweet tooth is entirely her fault! She was at one time the President of the St. Columbkille's Catholic Women's League, and taught catechism regularly to public school children who didn't have religion classes at school. She kept in touch with her nursing friends, some who even visited the day before she passed away. She was well known and respected and a pillar of the community.

Bernadette got sick in 1986, was diagnosed with cancer, and passed away on 26 June 1987, just two months prior to the wedding of their son Greg. Her funeral was on Monday June 29th, 1987, at St Columbkille‘s Catholic Church in Uptergrove, Ontario, Canada , and she was buried in the cemetery behind the church. ^[1]

Sources

1. ↑ "Find A Grave Index," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QVLX-3LRQ : 23 July 2020), Mary Bernadette McIsaac Clarke, 1987; Burial, , ; citing record ID , Find a Grave, http://www.findagrave.com.

• personal recollection of her son, Greg Clarke
• https://www.ancestry.ca/family-tree/person/tree/119843346/person/200181393124/facts