Lola Belle Clark

Lola Belle Clark, age 79, of Gulfport, MS died Friday, January 1, 2021, in Gulfport. Lola graduated from Harrison Central High School in 1959. She worked at Stacy’s Dept. Store in Gulfport, the Milk of Magnesia plant, the Seabee Base and the Armed Forces Retirement Home. After retirement, she continued to work at Garden Park Hospital and retail. She was a Catholic and attended St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gulfport where she was an active member of the Ladies Guild and the St. Vincent De Paul Food Pantry. Lola worked quietly in the background never expecting or wanting praise or recognition. She was a member of the Friends of the Orange Grove Library and a member of the Bay St. Louis Book Club. She enjoyed reading and glorious days that she could spend working outside or sitting on her front porch with friends. Lola wasn’t an expert at anything in particular but it wasn’t because she didn’t try to be. She took lessons in art, guitar, photography, tennis, swimming, golf, etc. She also tried to make her nieces and nephews do the same. She never had children of her own but she loved her brother’s children as though they were hers and that feeling was returned by them. We are all better people for having had her in our lives and she will be deeply missed by all those lives she touched. A special thank you to her cousin and best friend Mary Martel for all you have done for her and our family. She loved you dearly. Lola is preceded in death by her parents, Leroy Russell Clark and Inez Schott Clark, siblings Bobby Ray Clark, Mary Pauline Clark, Albert Russell Clark and Arnold Nicholas Clark; nieces Kimberly Rose Clark, Carolyn Clark Kranz and her husband John Kranz; nephews James Russell Clark and Robert Nicholas Clark, and a great nephew Joshuah Thomas Jones. She is survived by her nieces Beth Lott (Eugene) and Regina Clark Jones; great nieces Sam (Melissa), Michael (Stephanie), Matthew, Sarah, Steven (Bris), Daniel (Kirstin), Chris, Kevin, Brittney (John), Richard Welch (Kimberly), Nicholas (Jessica) and Andrew; great great nieces and nephews Brittany, Sean, Patrick, Aiden, Mason, Dillon, Chloe, Mikey, Lily, Zoey, Kenleigh, Reese, Mia, J.J, Braleigh, Kelsey, Abram, Montana, Gauge, Judith, Logan and Natalie. Visitation will be Friday, January 8, 2021, at the O’Neal Road Chapel of Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home, from 5:00 p.m. until 7:00 p.m. There will be a Mass of Christian Burial on Saturday, January 9, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Gulfport, where friends may visit one hour prior to service time. Interment will be at Coalville Cemetery in Biloxi, MS. Bradford O’Keefe Funeral Home is honored to serve the Clark family.