Memorials › Cecilia Katherine "Ceil" Fuchs Clark

Cecilia Katherine "Ceil" Fuchs Clark

19 Nov 1911 – 1 Feb 1990

Birth19 Nov 1911
Death1 Feb 1990
CemeterySaint Josephs Cemetery
Pierce , Pierce County , Nebraska , USA
Added byGale Retzlaff on 29 Sep 2023
FaGhttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/23931186

Bio

1990 © The Schuyler Sun, Schuyler, Nebraska; Thursday, February 8, 1990, page 7A Cecilia Clark dies in California Cecilia Clark , aunt of Mrs. John F. Theisen, Schuyler, died February 1, 1990, in California. A resident of Kingman, Arizona, she had moved to El Cajon, California to make her home with her daughter, Mrs. Vern (Rita) Cownie. Funeral services were held February 3 at Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Kingman, Arizona. A memorial service is planned in July at St. Joseph's Catholic Church at Pierce, Nebraska. Besides the daughter, Rita, Ceil had 2 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren along with 1 sister, Mrs. Monica Schott of Schuyler. 1990 Cecilia (Fuchs) Clark by daughter, Rita Cownie Fuchs Family Newsletter - - Special Newsletter – 1990, page 1 Cecilia died at 2:15 pm February 1, 1990 at Valley Medical Center in El Cajon, California. She entered the hospital January 8 with a severe respiratory infection. Her improvement was slow and on January 29 she became very ill. During routine pumping of her lungs unusual tissue was discovered and biopsied. On January 31 it was established that her left lung was filled with cancer. She was placed on relaxants and made as comfortable as possible. During her stay in the hospital she had had several lung x-rays and a CAT scan of the lungs and nothing appeared awry. Only the pumping procedure gave any clue as to the cause of her problems. She received the final rites of her church on January 31. A memorial mass will be said in her home parish of St. Mary's church in Kingman, Arizona. I hoped to arrange for her ashes to be interred at St. Joseph's Cemetery in Pierce, Nebraska. The property for this cemetery was donated to St. Joseph's by her father and he and her mother are buried there. A memorial mass will also be said at St. Joseph's church. I had planned a trip to Nebraska this summer to attend the 40th anniversary of my high school graduating class. I will arrange my trip to Pierce for the same time. No date has been set at this time but details will be sent to most of you once they have been worked out. She treasured her family very much and she took great pleasure in her nieces, nephews, great-nieces & nephews – the whole tribe. You were all her other children. During her life she was fortunate in knowing a diverse, kind, caring and compassionate group of people from many walks of life. To her you were all special in your own way. As her only official child I will miss her. I know you will too. With great affection to all, Rita Cownie Miss me—But let me go When I come to the end of the road And the sun has set for me, I want no rites in a gloom-filled room, Why cry for a soul set free? Miss me a little—-but not too long And not with your head bowed low. Remember the love that we once shared. Miss me--but let me go. For this is a journey that we all must take And each must go alone. It's all part of God's plan, A step on the road to home. When you are lonely and sick of heart, Go to the friends we know And bury your sorrows in doing good deeds. Miss me—-but let me go . - Unknown 1990 Celebration of Cecilia Catherine {Fuchs} Clark Life During the Summer of 1990 at Pierce, Nebraska with Family and Friends. Cecilia Catherine Fuchs was born November 19, 1911 on her parents farm west of Pierce to Florian Fuchs and Johanna Widhalm Fuchs. She was the youngest of ten children, with seven sisters and two brothers. She was the product of a strong and proud Austrian background, a culture that encouraged hard work but with a father who enjoyed new ideas and the high tech of his day. He was among the first in the area to have a Victrola phonograph and an Edison tape machine on which he recorded family musicians of singing with piano and violin accompaniment. They were not the Trapp Family of their day but these diversions did provide solid family entertainment and plesant memories. Florian owned a large seven passenger 1917 Cadillac touring car with leather interior and jump seats that provided transportation and adventure. Cecilia attended St. Joseph's parochial school in Pierce where she and the other students lived in mortal terror of Father Mester. A friend, Katherine Schramm (Kay) was a regular visitor at the Fuchs farm where she enjoyed the hectic and busy lifestyle of a rural atmosphere, one in contrast to life in town. The girls liked stopping at St. Joseph's cemetery adjacent to the farm ( on land donated by Florian ) where they would say a prayer at the crucifix. One day Kay decided they should take the nun's suggestion of the day literally and they climbed up to "embrace Jesus". They were seen by a passerby who reported their antics to the school and the girls were severely reprimanded for their zeal. Their cemetery visits continued but without the theatrics. Florian died unexpectedly in June 1928. He had provided not only materially for his family but a vitality and enthusiasm that were missed at his passing. The drives in the Cadillac came to an end. As the youngest there was an age gap between Cecilia and her older siblings which caused some of her sisters to assume an almost parental role in her life. She always remembered her sister Julia using some of her meager teachers' salary to buy her a new winter coat. She attended Boyles secretarial school in Omaha and met Quentin L. Clark at a country dance. They were married March 29, 1932. Their only child Rita was born in 1932. Quentin worked on various farms but the Depression was in full force and jobs were scarce. A trip to San Jose at the suggestion of former friends in Albion who had moved to California did not enhance the family fortune. Cecilia and Quentin returned to Nebraska where they settled in §idney. Quentin took odd jobs and Cecilia worked as a waitress. World War 11 brought prosperity. Quentin worked at the Sioux ammunition depot and some of his coworkers from the Bronx and Brooklyn enjoyed home cooked meals prepared by Cecilia. She always enjoyed cooking and was a good cook, the kind who could walk to the ice box or refrigerator and find a dab of this and a dab of that and come up with a tasty, satisfying meal for up to 12 people. During her Sidney days she also cared for a brother-in~law with emotional problems and later a sister-in-law who had suffered a disabling stroke. Cecilia was a caring and compassionate person all her life. After World War II they moved to Oshkosh and with their savings bought and operated a pool hall. They later started a small diner where her cooking talent ensured the success of the venture. During the Oshkosh years the family spent two summers working on a dude ranch in Wyoming, with Quentin at the wrangler/handyman and Cecilia as yes, the cook. Again she managed meals that were delicious, inventive and varied, cooked on a wood stove ( there was no electricity at the ranch ), food kept in a huge ice box, the ice cut in winter and stored in sawdust in the ice house. Light was by kerosene and gas lamps, ironing by the flat irons and butane irons, washing done in a gas powered machine with a hand wringer. While in Oshkosh Quentin gradually acquired a small herd of cattle but the blizzard of 1948 wiped him out. They moved to Omaha and Cecilia again found work as a waitress and they lived in an apartment house where he was building manager. A few years later they moved to San Jose and Cecilia worked at the Post House restaurant at the Greyhound bus depot until her retirement. Quentin had always liked the west and Kingman, Arizona became their final home. They kept busy with an assortment of animals ( goats, chickens, ducks, even a pig ) much to the consternation of the Kingman city fathers. Cecilia was diligent in there care of the animals and Quentin reaped the glory in the form of blue ribbons when he took his menagerie to the county fair each year. They celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in 1982 and he died in 1984. Cecilia was lonely and as a lifelong non driver a bit isolated. However, through the kindness of the ladies of the Belles of St. Mary's, at St. Mary's parish in Kingman, she received rides to mass, the store, the doctor, whatever was needed. She especially enjoyed the first Fridays when a group would attend the noon mass and then go out to lunch. She was also blessed with kind and caring neighbors. She enjoyed visits from nieces and nephews who found their way to Kingman and from her two grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Throughout her life her family was always very important to her. She sold the animals after Quentin's death but continued to battle the weeds on her quarter acre. She was active until a fall in her yard the summer of 1989. She never recovered her pep and vitality. She died February 1, 1990 while staying with her daughter in California. She was fortunate in not suffering for a long period of time, for retaining her faculties to the end and for not ending her days in the isolation of a mind gone blank. She was a very religious and devout Catholic all of her life and I have no doubt God rewarded her. - Written by Daughter, Rita {Clark} Cownie, to the nieces, nephews, cousins, neighbors and friends in remembrance for Cecilia Catherine {Fuchs} Clark after her passing.

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