Kenneth Poe Funeral Services

February 18, 2024

CHARLOTTE – Phyllis Barnette Clark, 86, passed in Glory on February 18, 2024, peacefully at her home, surrounded by the family she loved. Phyllis was born in 1937 in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Frank and Johnsie Barnette. She graduated from East Mecklenburg high school in 1955 and then studied at Flora MacDonald College for women, graduating in 1959 with a B.A. in Bible and Christian education as well as a NC Teacher’s Certificate. She initially moved to Hamlet to become the Director of Christian Education at the Presbyterian Church where she found great satisfaction in working with the youth of her community in their Christian growth and development. After a year, she married her college sweetheart, John Douglas Clark and began to pursue her dream of nurturing a loving Christian family in Brevard, North Carolina.

In 1964, their son, John Douglas Clark, Jr., was born, and Phyllis entered into motherhood with passion and enthusiasm. She gave unconditional love and acceptance to her husband and child. Nothing was missed in the provision of her care for them—she was present and attentive at every turn, holding the family together through the busy life of multiple simultaneous careers and challenging schedules. She was incredibly diligent as a homemaker, and only more diligent in providing for the nurturing of her family. She brought the same loving care and attention to each of her parents through their final years. Her grandchildren and great grandchildren later became a sustaining joy of her life as she showered them, too, with her beautiful, gentle unconditional love.

Phyllis enjoyed singing in the choir and musical ensembles from college through the last decade of her life. She engaged every stranger with affability and interest as though she had known them forever. She found joy in the beautiful expressions of God in this world, from the flowing Azalea gardens at her college to the simple daffodils and camellias in her own yard. Phyllis’ love for others was boundless, without reserve, and expressed selflessly in every part of her life. In the end, her greatest desire, at every turn, was to be kind—she lived her life with unending kindness, tenderness, and love toward all others, knowing these to be the highest expression of Christian love, and indeed, the highest expression of Life. It would be her deepest hope that we could know and remember how much she loved us, then go out and do that for others.

Phyllis is survived by her loving husband, John Douglas Clark; their son, John Jr., and his husband, Michael of Brevard; sister, Donna Annunziata (Patrick) of New York; grandchildren, Elisabeth (David) Hughes, Mary Ashley Clark, John David Clark (Ellington); and two great grandchildren, Levi and Kaden Hughes.  She was preceded by her dear brother-in-law, Jimmy and her beloved daughter-in-law, Susan.

Memorials may be made to Shriners Children’s Hospital, 950 W Faris Rd, Greenville SC, 29605, online at https://lovetotherescue.org/ or by check.

Interment will be at Steele Creek Presbyterian Church Memorial Cemetery, 7407 Steele Creek Rd, Charlotte, NC on Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 2:00 PM. Worship service to follow at Unity Presbyterian Church, 303 Tom Hall Street, Fort Mill, SC at 3:30 PM.

Arrangements are in the care of Kenneth W. Poe Funeral & Cremation Service, 1321 Berkeley Ave., Charlotte, NC 28204; (704) 641-7606. Online condolences may be shared at www.kennethpoeservices.com.