Jenna Nicole Clarke
Jenna Nicole Clarke was born Aug. 13, 1992 to Lisa Clarke and James “Jimmer” Dick of Seward.
On Sept. 21, on her way to work Jenna was critically injured when her small red card collided with a tractor-trailer rig on West Dimond Boulevard in Anchorage. She was placed on life support at the critical care unit of Providence Hospital. Jenna, as a healthy 20-year-old young lady, was able to give an ultimate gift to many recipients providing a chance for a better life, by donating her organs. She died Sept. 22, 2012.
Jenna lived in Seward, graduating from Seward High School in 2010. She attended the University of Alaska Anchorage and lived with her Aunt Karin and Uncle Tom Sullivan and their family in Anchorage. Jenna worked as a receptionist the Seward Military Resort during the summer for several years. For the past year she was employed by Wells Fargo Bank as a teller.
In Jenna’s short years she touched many lives. Her sense of humor, her compassion and her personal commitments to family and friends, and her loyalty — no matter what — all had an impact on those who cared and loved her. As her Uncle tom said at the memorial service, “She had a way of getting to your heart in so many ways.” From her curly red hair, which she was constantly changing, to her crooked smile, to her stories and ranting opinions, her energy and enthusiasm, endeared her to friends, co-workers, family and the “little people” in her life.
Jenna was a baptized child of God and she was blessed with a loving village of family and friends. To quote from the poem “Afterglow,” “Jenna would like the memory of her to be a happy one.” And the last phrase, “Of happy memories that I leave when life is done.”
Jenna was preceded in death by her beloved grandmother Pat Clarke.
Survivors include her immediate family, younger sisters Chelsey Clarke and Amber Clarke of Seward, father Jimmer Dick of Seward and mother Lisa Clarke of Seward. Aunt and uncle Karin (Clarke) and Tom Sullivan of Anchorage, uncle and aunt Tommy and Gretchen Clarke of Sitka, grandfather Tom Clarke of Kona, Hawaii.
In addition to her immediate family she is survived by grandparents, surrogate and step-grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, co-workers and friends.
A memorial service was held for Jenna at Evergreen Memorial Chapel in Anchorage on Sept. 26 and another at Seward High School on Sept. 28.
Those wishing to make a charitable donation in Jenna’s name are asked to consider the Seward Community Foundation, P.O. Box 933, Seward, AK 99664; the Larson Family Fund (Aunt Darcie Larson is a founding member of the Seward Community Foundation) and Margaret Anderson also has a special fund, both of which are dedicated to youth activities in Seward.