WILMINGTON, CA — Sister of St. Joseph of Cluny Lelia Clarke, 82, died January 27 in the Jeanne Jugan Residence, San Pedro, CA.
Born in Kells, County Meath, Ireland, she was the daughter of the late Charles and Catherine Clarke.
Sister Clarke was professed on March 8, 1951 in Gallen Priory, Ferbane, Offaly, Ireland. She was missioned to California where she taught religious education classes and worked as a substitute teacher at Sts. Peter and Paul School, Wilmington.
In 1957, she was missioned to Newport, where she was one of the founding sisters of the Cluny School. During the next 20 years, she ministered as an educator, teaching Nursery School, Kindergarten and Grades 2 and 3.
She was then missioned to Torrance, California where she taught Grade 4 and served as the librarian at St. Catherine Laboure School. In 1981, she was missioned to Wilmington, where she served the less fortunate through the Sts. Peter and Paul Poverty Program for the last 27 years.
Sister Clarke is survived by three sisters, Bridie Parry of Surray, England, Angela Cooke of Manchester, England, and Teresa Clarke of Dublin, Ireland.
A Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated in Wilmington.
