Naomi Ruth Ball Clark

Naomi Ruth Clark, 91, passed from this life on January, 18, 2024, at Craighead County Nursing Center.  She was born July 31, 1932 at Blytheville, Arkansas as the fourth of five daughters to Wyley Russell Ball and Maggie Bell Ball.

Ruth was a 1950 graduate of Dixie High School and attended Arkansas State College where she was a cheerleader and a member of Phi Mu Sorority. She and Bill Clark married May 30, 1952 and spent the next years raising their family. She returned to college in 1971, graduating from Arkansas State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Education in 1972.  Her career as a second-grade teacher began at East Elementary School and continued at Hillcrest Elementary School in Jonesboro.  She retired from her teaching career at Hillcrest in 1996. She was a member of Alpha Delta Kappa and Arkansas Education Association. Ruth and Bill loved to travel to the Florida beaches, the Smoky Mountains and the Branson area. They especially enjoyed their home and pontoon boat at Cherokee Village. She was a lifelong Methodist.

In addition to her parents, Ruth was preceded in death by; her husband, William E. Clark; her son, Stephen Eldon Clark; her daughter, Jill Clark Bassi Peace; granddaughter Jennifer Clark Cox; sisters, Mary Sue Ball Tharp, Peggy Louise Ball Weiss, and Billie Jean Ball Prude; and son-in-law James Thomas Hunter.

She is survived by daughters, Kathy Clark McPike and husband Stan and Robin Clark Hunter; grandchildren and their spouses Derek and Whitney McPike, Adam  and Becky McPike, John and Aimee McPike, Will Hunter, Maggie and Garrett Barnes, David and Nicole Bassi, Paige and Brennan Sparks; and great-grandchildren,  Aiden McPike, Ella McPike, Presley McPike, Conner McPike, Avery McPike, Harper McPike, Luke Bassi, Elise Bassi, Natalie Bassi, Tate Barnes, Harvey Barnes and Layton and Gavin Rogalski; one sister, Patricia Ann Ball Smith  of Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Funeral services will be 10:00 AM, Monday, January 22, 2024 at Emerson Funeral Home with John Miles officiating. Visitation will be prior to the service from 9-10 am. Burial will follow at Oaklawn Cemetery with Derek McPike, Adam McPike, John McPike, Will Hunter, David Bassi, Garrett Barnes, Brennan Sparks, and Clint Cox serving as pallbearers.

The family acknowledges the excellent care Ruth received during her almost five years at Craighead Nursing Center.  The staff members there are like family. For lasting memorials please consider the Food Bank of NEA. To sign an online guestbook, go to emersonfuneralhome.com.