Jane Eleanor Clark, 82, died on March 2, 2011, at Lenoir Woods Senior Community. Ashes will be interred in the Memorial Garden at Calvary Episcopal Church in Columbia, with visitation at Parker Funeral Service, 22 N. 10th Street, on Thursday, March 24, from 6-7 p.m.

Jane was born July 15, 1929, in Pittsburgh, the only daughter of Edwin M. and Eleanor McKay Clark. The family later moved to St. Louis, where her father was president of the Southwestern Bell Telephone Company.

In 1951 she received a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish from Sweet Briar College in Lynchburg, Va. From 1953-56 she worked as a copy writer and script writer at D’Arcy Advertising Agency in St. Louis. She joined the staff of the Globe-Democrat as a feature writer in 1959 and later that year was named Women’s Editor for that St. Louis newspaper. Her responsibilities included the development of a Women’s Section for both the daily and weekend editions, as well as supervising coverage of semi-annual fashion shows, the Annual Women of Achievement Award Luncheon, and other special events and topics of interest to women. During that time Clark won numerous awards from state and national organizations for her feature writing.

Clark was named an instructor at the Missouri School of Journalism in 1967 and in 1969 received a master’s in that program. For many years she taught classes in feature writing and coordinated the multi-section introductory course in news reporting. From January until August 1990, she served as Interim Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies in the School of Journalism. She retired as associate professor in 1992.

Clark loved to travel and took annual cruises, learning more about other countries and cultures. She combined some of these travels with her journalism interests, including initial negotiations with Missouri alumni in Peking to help establish Edgar Snow Fellowships that enabled Chinese journalists to participate in the master’s program at the School. She served as advisor to those students during their time on the Columbia campus.

Clark is survived by her brother, Dr. Richard E. Clark, of Sewickley, Penn., and his two children, Todd E. Clark of Falls Church, Va., and Karen Lynn Kuschner of Pacifica, Calif.

Clark loved cats. Memorial gifts may be directed to The Humane Society of Central Missouri, 616 Big Bear Blvd., Columbia, MO 65202.

Updated: May 20, 2020