JEANETTE RUTH CLARKE was born on May 23, 1926 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Jean graduated from high school in Philadelphia. After high school, she worked as a seamstress for a few years. She later worked at a dental factory.

Jean attended Mt. Olivet Baptist Church, where she met her husband, Alphonso. She sang on the choir at Mt. Olivet. She later became a mother, caregiver and a housewife. She was also a breast cancer survivor.

Jean loved to entertain family and bake cakes, cooking and pies. She also enjoyed many hobbies like sewing, crocheting and knitting and word search and puzzles.

Jean was preceded in death by her parents, Charles and Marguerite Clarke; her siblings, Austin, Norman, James and Hazel; and her husband, Alphonso.

She leaves to cherish her memory: her son, Linward and daughter-in-law, Cecilia; her nieces and nephews; great nieces and great nephews; and many friends and neighbors.

What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, for all that we love deeply becomes part of us.

–Helen Keller