Remembering Mary Pat Clarke 1941-2023 Delegate Regina Boyce While others took to social media to send memories and condolences of our beloved Mary Pat Clarke, I took a couple of days to process her loss and the incredible impact she had on this city and on me. I have known MPC for the entire 20 years that I have lived in Baltimore City. Our relationship began with her as my professor at Johns Hopkins University in 2004 when I decided that I wanted to make Baltimore City home. I knew nothing about the city other than the job I came to weekly at Johns Hopkins University’s Athletic Department. I wanted to learn more, so the class,” American Cities: Baltimore” gave me the insight I needed plus so much more: the journey of city life and public service. MPC became a resource to me as I stumbled through the nuances of city life. First it was as a volunteer for her campaign for council, then it was much needed guidance as I navigated the city process as a community association president and then a board member with Waverly Main Street. She would continue to be a mentor through the process of applying to work for the city under then City Council President Bernard C. “Jack” Young. When I thought I wanted to be a lawyer, MPC wrote a letter of recommendation but told me that I did not need to be a lawyer to change and impact policy. And when I was recruited to run for the Baltimore Central Committee, she was one of two mentors who suggested that I run for state delegate. MPC was right . . . she was often always right. MPC was always supporting others, lifting others, nurturing others, pushing others, and gave so many of us opportunities and experiences that have placed us in the positions we are in today. She was a lover of the underdog, and there was no fight she backed down from. MPC was one of a kind. Through my time as an elected official, I have modeled her standard of public service, which is not easy. She made public service look so easy, so effortless, so dignified. Public service is not easy, it takes a ton of effort, but it is certainly dignified, and I am honored to be in this service. She made public service admirable, and I followed her example. I am doing my best, but I am not MPC. Her life, her service, was exemplary, one that needs more than a willing desire, but tenacity, grit, fearlessness, passion, compassion, and a touch of endurance from above. Her life and work are a legacy in Baltimore, one that we will remember for decades, centuries. I want to thank Mary Pat for making me a lover of Baltimore, a fighter for Baltimore, and a proud public servant of the greatest city in America. Rest in Heaven, Professor, Council President, Councilwoman, Mentor, Mary Pat Clarke. Mary Pat Clarke Obituary We are thankful for The Banner for their printed obituary for Mary Pat. You can read it with the link below. Mary Pat Clarke Obituary (1941 – 2024) – Baltimore, MD – The Baltimore Banner A funeral mass will be held at the Cathedral of Mary Our Queen on Saturday, November 23, at 10:30 a.m. with a reception to follow immediately afterward. In lieu of flowers, donations in memory of Mary Pat can be made to a community-based charity of your choice. To plant trees in memory, please visit the Sympathy Store.

 

1975

In the Spring of 1975, a Cloverhill Road mother loaded her youngest daughter into a stroller and began knocking on doors in the 2^nd City Council District. She had just spent the previous years leading the Greater Homewood Community Corporation, an umbrella coalition of neighborhoods surrounding Johns Hopkins, working to establish Action In Maturity (AIM), strengthen our schools, and organizing the City Fair. That young mother was Mary Pat Clarke. With the help of many Tuscany Canterbury residents such as the Eberharts, Chafants and O’Briens, Mary Pat was successful. Forty five years ago, she was sworn into the Baltimore City Council.

It was an exciting time to be on the Council. She joined another community resident, Barbara Mikulski who would soon launch her City Council role into a run for the United States Congress. They were a dynamic duo! From shaping the debate on Harbor Place, to rent control, or passing residential permit parking and tenants right of first refusal, Mary Pat was an immediate and tremendous success.

When Baltimore voters approved single-member City Council districts, Mary Pat ran again for office. In November of 2004 she was sworn into office in the newly created 14^th District. Here we are sixteen years later, and Mary Pat has decided it is time for a new generation to fill her shoes on the Baltimore City Council.

We will miss her! What we will miss the most is really her greatest talent and accomplishment: Mary Pat has just shown up, answered our calls, stopped by our homes, and listened to us for the past forty plus years. She is known for her attention and caring for every constituent call or need. We have all seen her at our neighborhood meetings or just on the street with her trusted 3×5 note cards, taking every detail of our stories or complaints. Helping us, helping our neighborhood is just in her DNA.

Another Mary Pat Neighborhood Memory

My favorite Mary Pat story (which I hand-wrote on the newsletter but my handwriting being what it is, thought I should also type): Some years ago during a water main break, which necessitated a giant hole being dug in the middle of Tuscany Road, I walked down to it to see if the crew knew when water might be restored, and there’s Mary Pat up to her neck in the hole, checking progress. “Wow,” I said to her, “getting muddy!” “I do this a lot,” she said.

Ann Finkbeiner

“Fudge-It,” Mary Pat Clarke

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