During her lengthy and dedicated career at Memorial, Mary Clarke led and participated in various significant changes at the university in the areas of compensation, job evaluation and recruitment.

She was also known for her incredible determination, resilience and work ethic. She freely gave of her knowledge and expertise in the field of human resources and over the years was a mentor to many.

After 33 years of service, Ms. Clarke retired from Memorial in March 2012. Sadly, a year later she took her own life.

To honour her memory and to encourage those who live with mental illness to seek support, Ms. Clarke’s friends and colleagues organize events during the month of May, when international and national mental health initiatives take place.

On Friday, May 27, the annual Wellness Walk in Memory of Mary J. Clarke will take place at Long Pond on Memorial’s St. John’s campus. (If the weather is poor, the walk will take place at The Works.) For those interested, you are invited to meet at the Splash Facility at 12 p.m.; the walk will take place at 12:15 p.m. The event is to encourage faculty, staff, students, retirees, families and friends to embark on a walk to promote a healthy minds, healthy attitude environment. For more information about the memorial walk, please contact Kathleen Wall at kwall@mun.ca , Delaina Roul at dmr230@mun.ca or Kelly Neville at kneville@mun.ca.

As well, a ticket sale on a handmade quilt by Ms. Clarke’s sister, Regina Clarke, is underway. Proceeds from the ticket sale will go towards increasing the value of the Mary Clarke Scholarship, which was established by a generous donation from Ms. Clarke’s family and friends. Valued at a portion of the income on the endowment, the scholarship is awarded annually to an undergraduate student in their final semester in the Faculty of Business Administration with a focus on human resource management. The winner of the quilt will be drawn at the end of the memorial walk. For tickets on the quilt or for more information, please contact Carolyn Bennett at carolyn@mun.ca.

Some members of Memorial’s St. John’s campus community may have noticed or sat on the Mary Clarke memorial bench near Toulinguet Close and the rose garden between the School of Music, the Science building and the Henrietta Harvey building. The bench serves in part as a celebration of Ms. Clarke’s life, but also as a reminder that mental illness can occur at any time in a person’s life and the importance of recognizing it and seeking help.