Marian Clark, best known for her series of popular Route 66 cookbooks, died Thursday of cancer. She was 83.
Clark’s passing occurred a day after her daughter, Rebecca Barnes, announced on Facebook she had been placed in hospice care. Clark also had suffered a stroke the previous year but rallied until her cancer diagnosis in January.
Barnes wrote on Facebook about Clark’s last moments:
The family was up all night with her and, with the help of an angel on earth from hospice, she died peacefully with Dad holding her hand and surrounded by family. Many thanks for all the kind words and prayers during this journey. Love to all.
Services for Clark will be at 2 p.m. Nov. 28 at the Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in Tulsa (map here). The church remains one of Tulsa’s Art Deco architectural masterpieces. In lieu of flowers, Clark’s family asks for donations to the church, as well as to the Salvation Army and Tulsa Historical Society.
Clark had two children — Rebecca Barnes and Kevin Clark — and four grandchildren.
Schaudt’s Funeral Home in Tulsa is in charge of arrangements.
Clark, a native of the Texas Panhandle who lived in Tulsa for many years, used her home-economic teaching background to help launch a cookbook-publishing career in 1988 with “The Southwestern Heritage Cookbook.”
Inspired by the restaurants and cuisines she experienced during a Route 66 trip, she talked to chefs, waitresses, entrepreneurs and roadies to cajole recipes from them. This fascination led to Route 66 cookbooks, including “The Main Street of America Cookbook,” two editions of “The Route 66 Cookbook” and “Hogs on 66,” the latter which was co-written by best-selling author Michael Wallis.
According to Clark’s website, her cookbooks had sold more than 130,000 copies.
Clark showed up on several television shows, including the Food Channel, and many Route 66 festivals over the years. She became inducted into the Oklahoma Route 66 Hall of Fame in 2014.
As a former resident of Tulsa, I often saw Clark at Route 66 gatherings. Her beaming, toothy smile and enthusiasm about Route 66 made any roadie event more fun. I recall in particular a small party she and her husband Ken threw at their Tulsa home at a time when the city hosted the 2004 International Route 66 Festival. A few foreign-born Route 66 travelers showed up there. Marian talked a lot about Route 66 and the food found there, and Ken talked a lot about his aviation hobby and offered one stunned international traveler a chance to ride in his private plane the next morning. The Clarks’ joy and generosity were a prime example of why budding Route 66 travelers became hooked on the old road.
(Image of Marian Clark from the 2007 International Route 66 Festival in Clinton, Oklahoma, courtesy of TheLope.com)
I type this with tears in my eyes.
I’m heartbroken.
Such a sweet lady.
It was a pleasure to meet Marion after her son Kevin and our daughter Lori became engaged. She was so welcoming and full of life.May her beautiful soul rest in peace.I know all of her family will dearly miss her.My deepest sympathy to all of her family.