Nettie Louann Clark

Nettie LouAnn Clark (Berry) passed away peacefully in her home on Bainbridge Island, Washington on November 4, 2021. She was 81. Nettie was born March 5, 1940, and grew up in Banner Elk, North Carolina, and remained a true Southern Belle her entire life no matter where life took her.

She spent her youth years in the beautiful Grandfather Home for Children Orphanage in Banner Elk with her brothers, Jerry, Larry, and Nolan, and sister Gloria. She had many fond memories and friends from the home where the atmosphere was one of love, caring, and one big family. She fondly recalled the kids pitched in to do necessary chores as the Home was a self-sustaining farm where children assisted with all the daily chores necessary to run the farm.

Grandfather Mountain was a tremendous positive impact on her life and she stayed till she graduated High School at Cranberry High School just down the road. There at one Friday night's football game in 1957, she met visiting football player Jim Allman whom she married at 17 years old. She soon moved to Bristol Tennessee where she attended Steed Business College. There she mastered the all-important art of shorthand. This enabled the beginning of her life career in the medical Profession managing Dr’s offices practice which she both enjoyed and was regarded as exceptionally talented.

Immediately after the birth of her first son James Spencer she fell ill with tuberculous and spent 6 months in the hospital to fully recover. In 1969, she moved along with her children, James and Katrina, to Thousand Oaks California where her mother had previously settled. The 4-day drive across the country was shared with her kids in the car and her dear brother Nolan.

Shortly after moving to California a chance meeting one afternoon on a beach in Ventura led to marriage and thereafter welcomed her third child and second daughter, Nicole, into the world. They resettled to Paso Robles, California for six important years from 1973-1979 where she continued her Medical Career. She then moved to Sacramento for two years and then a major transition as a single mom of three kids to Scottsdale Arizona. The family enjoyed a new life in Arizona and she returned to Sacramento in 1988 where she remained till 2000.

Despite having an Associate Business Degree, she was immensely proud that all three of her children achieved Master Degrees in University. Moving Back to Sacramento in 1988 she then followed her youngest daughter Nicole's growing family in her move to Bainbridge Island, Washington There she retired and came to love being so close to three of her granddaughters. Her children and grandchildren were always her first priority. She stayed in the Winslow Arms Apartments and enjoyed her neighbors tremendously.

Blessed with great genes and an amazing heart of eternal kindness, Nettie loved to travel and visited the United Kingdom In 1999 with Katrina when her son was transferred to England. After Spencer moved to South Africa in 2000 she visited several times where she also fell in love with African life and went on many Game Safaris. She took an amazing trip to Mauritius island in the Indian Ocean. She went to Hawaii. She further traveled to China where she loved the Great Wall, Forbidden City, and shopped for great deals. Nana could never pass up a great deal.

Netties' real passions beyond her kids and then grandkids were reading, music, cooking, crafting, and most of all gardening.

The true southern cooking lessons she received as a young teenager in the orphanage continued to impress her kids and grandkids to this day. There was Perhaps no better breakfast on this planet than Nana's biscuits and gravy. Her beans or stew with good old Southern fried chicken always impressed. And cookies- holidays often found her in a cooking frenzy making gifts of brownies and cookies of all sorts.

We don't know where it came from but Mom had a gift of creativity and loved to Craft. She was taught sewing in the Home made her own clothes for years. Thereafter she often made amazing dresses for her girl's dolls as they were growing up. She started a House Wreaths business in 1990 where she made amazing natural door and wreaths using a base of dried manzanita brush that she would go to great lengths to pick herself in the wild foothills of Sierra Mountains. She combined this with various dried flowers to create amazing year-round reefs that she showed in the San Francisco trades shows and eventually wholesaled to a popular country-wide home catalog business. And then she took to making Jewelry ...bracelets as if she had done it her entire life.

But let's be honest, her Facebook pages are full of her ever-evolving garden. All Spring, Summer, and Fall Most every day would find her deep in gardening activities. She loved getting her hands into the soil and neutering plants from seedlings. She would work the garden on her knees till she could hardly stand back up. That will taking a call from a grandkid or one of her kids, topped off with a Classic Old Western Movie in the evening was her ideal of a blessed day. The weekend before she passed, she planted 32 chicks and hens. Imagine. Her happiness was really in that garden and she said so regularly.

Nettie is survived by her Three Children (Katrina, Nicole, and James Spencer), Seven Grandchildren (Peyton, Devin, Paige, Lexy, Samara, Easton, and Camren) along with her sister Gloria and Brother Larry.

For all these reasons and many more, we will always remember Nettie/ Mom / Nana with the fondest of memories and a true and genuine love. Her kindness and warmth were unparalleled. Mom welcomed every day with a gratefulness for the gift of life and God's many blessings. Until we meet again.

An online Service will be announced soon.

Arrangements are entrusted to Cook Family Funeral Home of Bainbridge Island, WA