Barbara Ann Clark

Clark, Barbara Ann (Mshar), 10/2/1935 – 12/6/2020
Barbara Ann (Mshar) Clark age 85 of Hendersonville, TN passed away December 6, 2020 at her daughter’s home in Nashville, TN. She was born in Monroe, Michigan and is the daughter of Alexander (Alex) Mshar of St. Louis, MO and Ruth Irene (Fleming) Mshar, of Monroe, MI (both were longtime residents of Chelsea, MI). On November 7, 1953 she married her childhood sweetheart William Eugene Clark at St. Mary’s Church in Chelsea, Michigan.

Barbara worked at The Chelsea Dime Store, Vogel’s, The Chelsea Standard, the Chelsea Medical Center as well as private doctor’s offices. She also taught 4-H.

Barbara is survived by her six children. Catherine Cantrell (Bob), Donna Stofer, Mary Jones (Rick), William Clark Jr., Elizabeth Parham (Tom) and Jenny Clark, and Barbara’s younger siblings: Donald Mshar (Becky), Joyce Shaninger (Jack), James Mshar, and Nancy Bihlmeyer (John) and brother-in-law Ronald Clark (Kathy).

Barbara was blessed with 8 grandchildren and 10 great grandchildren.

However, these raw statistics, facts, and dates are not our mother. She was the MATRIARCH of our family and epitomized what it meant to sacrifice for family. She worked hard to take good care of us. She made sure we knew how to cook and taught most of us to sew. She helped us set up our first homes; she enjoyed driving around to garage sales to find furniture to refinish or reupholster and “make new”. She helped us take care of and raise our kids; she loved to be the first one to teach the new mom how to give the newborn the first bath! She taught her children and grandchildren practical & life lessons & raised extremely capable adults and set the best examples ever! She was that rare gem that you could LITERALLY bet your life on and was ALWAYS there whenever family was in need as well as for the celebrations too! She was our biggest cheerleader and did what she could to help us realize our dreams. If a lot of this sounds familiar, it is because she was wise enough to marry a man who did much of the same as well! Together, they were an UNSTOPPABLE team!

She was passionate about genealogy and had a lot of our family history/documents from over the centuries; she said we could join the Daughters of the American Revolution! She was an incredible interior decorator. Every home she lived in could easily be in a House Beautiful type magazine! She LOVED creating/crafting. Many people have purchased her hand-made St. Nick’s throughout the years at local craft shows; she died on St. Nicolas day which confirms to some of us that she really IS Stanta Claus. She was also lifelong fan of the University of Michigan and would attend the games that Bill was ushering; she’d bring along the mid-game feast and often had the section drooling over the meal. She loved to read and passed that love down to her children. She was NOT a hunter and didn’t like the taste of wild game but would do her best to make it good for her husband, the hunter. She was a great cook and baker and was known for making outstanding cakes & cookies & fudge to celebrate any holiday or occasion! She was a great gardener; her and Bill’s yard was typically the most beautiful in the neighborhood, perfectly manicured, lush green, with lots of various flowering plants & bushes & trees. She always thought she inherited that gardening gene from her grandfather. And, mom really loved her Schnauzers: Clover, BB, & Carrie; those little rascals were good company throughout the years!

She, too, left big shoes to fill. I doubt we can ever fill those shoes, but we will do our best to make her proud! Her life was full of love and laughter; of family and friends. She will be forever missed. Her memories will forever be treasures in our hearts. We take comfort that her and dad are together again with all the loved ones who’ve already passed.

She was preceded in death by her husband William (Bill) Clark, her parents: Alexander Mshar & Ruth Mshar, her in-laws: Raymond & Gertrude Clark, and her sisters-in-law Verta (Richard) MacDonald and Geri (Jim) Mshar .

Barbara has been cremated. No funeral services will be held at this time due to the Covid 19 pandemic. A celebration of life will take place at a later date.

The family is requesting memorial contributions to be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, 225 N. Michigan Ave. Fl.17, Chicago, IL. 60601; http://act.alz.org/donate

"Her Wings Were Ready, But Our Hearts Were Not"


You may offer condolences at www.austinandbell.com

Service entrusted to Austin and Bell Funeral Home and Cremation Service, Hendersonville. 615-822-4442.