M. Rita Clark (September 12, 1915 – May 9, 2008) was a Republican member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

Formative years and family

Born as M. Rita Pohl in

Johnstown, Pennsylvania Johnstown is the largest city in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 18,411 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Located east of Pittsburgh, it is the principal city of the Metropolitan statistical area ...

on September 12, 1915, M. Rita Clark was a daughter of John and Philomena (Boes) Pohl. After graduating from Johnstown Catholic High School (now Bishop McCort High School) in 1933, she pursued higher education studies at the College of St. Francis (now the

University of St. Francis The University of St. Francis (USF) is a private Franciscan university with its main campus in Joliet, Illinois. It enrolls nearly 3,200 students at locations throughout the country with about 1,300 students at its main campus. History Early h ...

) in

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

from 1934 to 1935. She then earned her Bachelor of Science degree in English and social studies in 1937 at the State Teachers College in Lock Haven (now

Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania Commonwealth University-Lock Haven (LHU) is a public university in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE). The main campus covers and the branch campus in Clearfield, Pe ...

), and received her teaching certificate from the

University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...

in 1938. She married John J. Clark circa 1942.

Career

Employed as a teacher at Edgewood Elementary School in Johnstown, Clark subsequently became a business owner, operating Clark’s Dairy Store in

Hoernerstown, Pennsylvania Hoernerstown is an unincorporated community in South Hanover Township, Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, United States and is a part of the Harrisburg–Carlisle Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hoernerstown was named for a family of settlers. ...

. Elected to the Johnstown city council, she served in that capacity from 1973 to 1979. She was then elected as a Republican to the

for the 1979 term. After running an unsuccessful campaign for reelection to the Pennsylvania House in 1980, she was appointed to the Governor’s Commission for Women (1981-1982) and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (1985-1990).

Community service

A lector and member of Visitation BVM Catholic Church's parish council and its Mother Seton Guild, Clark was also a senior peer counselor for the

Society of Saint Vincent de Paul The Society of Saint Vincent de Paul (SVP or SVdP or SSVP) is an international voluntary organization in the Catholic Church, founded in 1833 for the service of the poor. Started by Frédéric Ozanam and Emmanuel-Joseph Bailly de Surcy and named ...

, a past president of the Johnstown Catholic Forum and the director, for a decade, of the Bishop McCort Alumni Association's annual fundraising drive. A member of the

League of Women Voters The League of Women Voters (LWV) is a nonpartisan American nonprofit political organization. Founded in 1920, its ongoing major activities include Voter registration, registering voters, providing voter information, boosting voter turnout and adv ...

of Greater Johnstown, she served as secretary of the Johnstown Parking Authority, was a member of the board of directors of the Senior Activity Center of Johnstown and a member of the advisory board of the Salvation Army. A member of the Johnstown Community Concert Association and the Mercy Hospital Guild, she was also actively involved with the Mercy-Lee Charity Ball Committee.

Death and interment

Clark died on May 9, 2008 in Johnstown, and was interred at that city's Grandview Cemetery."Rita Clark" (biography), Pennsylvania House of Representatives.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Rita Republican Party members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Women state legislators in Pennsylvania 2008 deaths 1915 births 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly