SACO — Janice Kirkby Clark died peacefully Nov. 12, 2018. Born May 5, 1931, the eldest daughter of Kathryn Warren and Oron Kirkby, she spent her formative years in Windham and Scarborough. She lived with her aunt and uncle while she attended Thornton Academy, where she met her future husband, Richard Clark.

Jan’s caring nature and scientific curiosity called her to the nursing profession, and after graduating in 1949, she attended Maine General Hospital School of Nursing. At that time, married women were not allowed to attend nursing school, so Jan and Dick had to wait to marry until she was graduated and he returned from serving in Korea. Her graduation was Sept. 12, their wedding Sept. 13, and by Sept. 14. 1952 they moved to California where Dick attended University of Santa Clara. The couple returned to Maine after Dick’s graduation to stand-up at the wedding of their best friends, Bob Moody and Virginia Briggs.

Jan’s career as an RN spanned 58 years, starting in O’Connor Hospital’s Labor/Delivery ward in San Jose, and culminating with 22 years as the school nurse for Jameson School at Old Orchard Beach.

While continuing her career, she raised four children of her own: Jinda Rosmann of Bellevue, Washington; John Clark of Chicago, Illinois; Edie Huber Hettinger of Harvard, Massachusetts; and Edward Clark of Saco, Maine. She was privileged to assist in the deliveries of six of her eight grandchildren.

Jan was a tireless volunteer with a remarkable capacity for work, doing whatever it took to get the job done!  She organized charitable events, collected donations for Thanksgiving and the Christmas Giving Tree at Jameson School, and was elected Saco Ward 4 Warden for nearly 40 years. She championed the petition (carrying out research on Ferry Road traffic) that led to the sidewalk from Laurel Hill Cemetery to Bayview Road.

Jan supported people when they needed her most. Her selflessness extended from answering calls for the rape crisis hotline of Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine, to taking elderly family members into her home in the last years of their lives. She was their in-home nurse, caregiver, and support system.

In their retirement, Jan and Dick enjoyed traveling cross-country. They traveled to all 50 states, but especially enjoyed visiting our National Parks, Shanksville, Pennsylvania (where Flight 93 went down, 9-11), and the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Jan enjoyed working as a Stephen Minister for the First Parish Congregational Church in Saco. She also loved playing bridge and cribbage, especially at the Saco Senior Center.

She will be missed by numerous nieces and nephews; a cousin, Lin Shaw Maguire of Ridgewood, New Jersey; her brother Warren Kirkby of Tomball, Texas; her sister, Donna Kirkby Taylor of New Port Richey, Florida; four children; eight grandchildren; one great-grandchild; and especially by Dick, the man who fell in love with her nearly 70 years ago.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Gosnell Memorial Hospice House, The Salvation Army, or the Sexual Assault Response Services of Southern Maine or Jameson School (c/o Mike Flaherty) in Janice’s name.

A Memorial Service will be held at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 24, 2018 at the First Parish Congregational Church, 12 Beach St., Saco.