Phyllis H. Clark, of Skaneateles, who dearly loved her family and friends, worshipped at First Presbyterian Church, volunteered with zoo elephants, travelled the world and taught generations of third graders in Skaneateles elementary schools, died on Feb. 25, 2025. She was 99.
Phyllis was born in Binghamton on July 25, 1925, to Willard and Teressa (Teddy) Hoffman. She grew up with two brothers, Norman and Bud who she adored, and a dog named Zipper who would walk her home from school. She thrived at her alma maters – Northfield (Class of 1943) and Skidmore College (Class of 1947). With a glint in her eye, she would tell of school dances, knitting argyle socks for soldiers, horseback riding lessons, and borrowing Bud’s red convertible. She majored in biology, a reflection of her lifelong curiosity and love of the natural world.
Shortly after college, she married Robert T. Clark, an Army Air Corp pilot and trainer who (the story goes) courted her, in part, by buzzing her Skidmore classroom in a P-51 Mustang. In 1956 they moved to Skaneateles, where Phyllis raised four children and made a home for the rest of her life.
She is survived by her children and their partners, Carol and George Ramsayer, Gary and Anne Clark, Jay Clark and Maria Wilmeth, and Peter and Marion Clark; grandchildren Kate, Jeff, Dan, Ashley, Cody, Tyler, and Marcella; great-grandchildren Russell and Anna; extended family including Gina, Dirk, Gay, Kris, nieces and nephews and many, many dear friends.
Well into her 90s, Phyllis was greeted with an excited “Mrs. Clark!” as former students spotted her around town. She had earned her Master’s Degree in Education from SUNY Cortland by attending summer school and night classes, often driving through summer rains and winter blizzards. This was all while substitute teaching during the day and caring for her young kids, having separated from her husband. She was a much-loved educator in Skaneateles elementary schools for nearly 30 years, long enough to teach the children of some of her early students. Even in her retirement, she welcomed fieldtrips of grade schoolers in old-timey clothes at the Side Hill One Room Schoolhouse.
During those years and beyond she met friends for lunch and tennis matches and danced enthusiastically at every opportunity. She prepared diligently for her two book clubs, always had a personalized recommendation for a novel, loved nature documentaries, and tackled the Sunday crossword every week. She gave bone-crunching hugs.
Phyllis jumped at every chance to travel to see her children and grandchildren, who she cherished. One visit to family in Norway in the early 1980s, and she was hooked on overseas travel as well. Rainforests in Southeast Asia, Central America and the Amazon were favorite destinations, with their dense canopies and exotic wildlife. But her dream trip was an African safari, where she saw giraffes and cheetahs, and her beloved elephants in the wild.
She was, as she often said, nutty about elephants. She was a docent at Syracuse’s Rosamond Gifford Zoo for more than three decades, always observing and noting the elephants’ behavior. And they seemed fond of her, in return – Siri, an Asian elephant, would come over to say hello when Phyllis visited. For Phyllis’s 98th birthday, she returned to the zoo’s elephant barn to meet the twin babies – the thrill of her life, she exclaimed.
Phyllis was an active and devoted congregant of the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, where she taught Sunday school, was an ordained deacon and elder in the Presbyterian Church, was a board member and volunteer at the Presbyterian Manor and was a charter member of the handbell choir. In addition, over the years she served on numerous committees and volunteered widely.
A service for Phyllis Clark will be held at First Presbyterian Church in Skaneateles on Saturday, March 29 at 11 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a contribution to the First Presbyterian Church of Skaneateles, The Presbyterian Manor or the Rosamond Gifford Zoo at Burnet Park.
To send condolences, visit robertdgrayfuneralhome.com.
