A graveside service for Kathleen Connell Clark, 79, of Marshall, Texas will be held at 10:00 a.m., Tuesday, January 9, 2024, at Colonial Gardens Cemetery. A visitation will be held from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., Monday, January 8, 2024, at Downs Funeral Home.

Kathleen was born on August 24, 1944, in Meridian, Mississippi to R.J. Connell and Catherine Snowden Connell and passed away on January 4, 2024, in Marshall, Texas.

Her family moved to Marshall, Texas in 1957, and she graduated from Marshall High School in 1962. She and John Clark married on February 9, 1968. While in High School she was in the Distributive Education (D.E.) program and began working at Marshall Memorial Hospital. She later worked at Marshall Medical Center where she met her lifelong friend, Sylvia Chastain.

She was a lifelong member of Immanuel Baptist Church where she served in the nursery and taught Sunday school to many young children. She was also a youth sponsor and helped chaperone many church youth trips. She loved growing and sharing her plants and flowers, crafting and going to Canton Trade Days with friends and family.

She was preceded in death by her parents, R.J. and Catherine Connell; infant son, Robert Wayne Nichols; brothers, Delma “Bubba” McCrary, Grady Connell and Edward Connell and her very special friends, Bill and Sylvia Chastain.

She is survived by her loving and supportive husband of 55 years, John Clark; daughter, Rene McClendon and husband, Steve of Ore City, TX; son, Allen Clark and wife, Misty of Longview, TX; daughter, April Clark of Silverdale, WA; grandchildren, Amber Aguirre and husband, Joseph of Ft. Worth, Jessica Parrish and husband, Cody of Houston, Jacob Clark of Nashville, TN, Caden Clark of Fort Campbell, KY; great grandchildren, Eric and Elena Aguirre; brother, Bob Connell and wife, Ruby; sister-in-law’s, Edris McCrary and Barbara Connell; very special friends, Candy Johnson, Johnny and Sandy Hightower and Wanda Barrett and neighbors, D.W. and Becky McClendon along with numerous nieces, nephews and other friends and family.