December 11, 1934 – October 14, 2026
Elisabeth Mary Brereton Clarke was born in Wimbledon, England on December 11, 1934 to Allan and Shelagh Clarke. This completed their family with her older sister Jennifer. Elisabeth was an amazing person who was very comfortable being the person who stayed behind the scenes and did the work without taking the credit. When she was six years old, the bombing in London intensified and Elisabeth was sent with her school to the countryside, luckily the area where they were sent to was close to a cousin of her grandmother’s where she spent weekends and holidays. She stayed there until she was 12 and her mother visited her when she could. When she finished school, she attended Secretarial School in London. After Secretarial School, Elisabeth made her way in the world by going to Australia, where she worked and lived for 6 years. On her way back to England, she came to visit her cousin Bridget in Canada. Bridget and her husband Ken had settled west of Nanton, AB. Elisabeth visited and helped them get set up in an old house they rented from Loree Farms. She returned to England and then came back to Canada where she worked in Calgary for a couple of years. In 1964 she accepted a position as a legal secretary for a young lawyer in Nanton. Elisabeth worked for Bob Roddie for 50 years after that.
Elisabeth worked for Bob Roddie and various partners for a very long time. She was exceedingly professional in a job that required just that. There was nothing that happened in Nanton that Elisabeth didn’t know about and true to her nature, she never breathed a word about what she knew and played her role quietly behind the scenes. Elisabeth loved her job and expected herself to live up to the work ethic she believed in. Interestingly, she told us all to get wills but omitted that we should update them.
In Nanton, Elisabeth became and integral part of the network of the community. She worked on so many committees and clubs that they are too numerous to mention. However, there are a few which stood out. She was a member of the United Church, where she sang in the choir for many years, she served on the church board and was a long-time member of the UCW. Elisabeth was a member of the Nanton Chapter of Beta-Sigma-Phi Sorority, carrying many positions and receiving many accolades. For many years Elisabeth was a member and the secretary of the Centennial Horse Club, during that time she owned a horse, which she kept at Betty Ellis’.
After she retired from the law office, Elisabeth volunteered and was on the board of NAPS the Nanton Animal Protection Society. Her one great love was cats. Her first cat was Tinkerbell who she got as a kitten from Gerald and Janie Loree and Tink lived for almost 20 years. Elisabeth adopted and kept many cats after Tink. She was very sad to have to rehome her last cat, Jasmine, when Elisabeth had to leave her home for health reasons. Elisabeth loved everything cat related and had a great many ornaments and decorations supporting her beloved friends.
Elisabeth’s next great love was travel. She travelled extensively across the globe. Elisabeth took photos of all the places she went and all the people she travelled with and put all of those adventures in albums. Elisabeth was also an accomplished actress. She performed with the Chinook Singers and Players in at least ten years of plays and musicals with many important roles. She was also part of the administration of the events and accounts. Elisabeth followed the Blue Jays baseball team. She watched the baseball series avidly year after year. She was a dedicated member of the Square Dance group and had many beautiful Square Dance dresses for the dance events. Elisabeth loved her home, where she resided for over 50 years. She had a beautiful garden with gorgeous flowers and beautifully kept lawns and hedges. Interestingly, Elisabeth was on the board who built the Silver Willow Lodge, where she spent her last two years.
Elisabeth was a great community member; she was a hard-working woman who loved being busy and participating as part of the community. She loved her work and her community and we are all better off for the time and energy she put in to making Nanton a better place to live.
Elisabeth is survived by her cousin Bridget Jones and her nephew and niece Patrick Jones (Tami) and Jennifer Jones (Tom) as well as her grand nephew and niece Virgil Lowe (Emily) and Veronica Walker, and their children Avery, Burke and Brinley Walker, and Juniper Lowe. She is predeceased by her parents Allan and Shelagh Clarke and her sister Jennifer Clarke.
A Memorial Service was held at the Nanton / Parkland United Church.
On behalf of Elisabeth, her family would like to thank the staff and residence of the Silver Willow Lodge for filling her life with activities, for providing great food and for caring for her when she needed it.  Your compassion and companionship meant the world to her.
In lieu of flowers or in memory of Elisabeth please give donations to Nanton Animal Protection Society (NAPS) nantonanimalprotection.ca
Caring for the family is Lyle Reeves Funerals of High River (Craig Snodgrass) 403.652.4242.