Gladys Marilyn (Fortune) Clarke

Gladys Marilyn Fortune Clarke, daughter of William James Fortune and Rose Richardson Fortune passed away with great dignity on 29 November, 2017.

On August 16, 1974, Gladys married Peter W. Clarke of Warrnambool, Victoria, Australia.  Following their wedding at Kona Village in Hawaii, the Big Island, they lived in Newport News, VA and Milton, VT.

Gladys, an honor graduate of Hillside High School in 1954, received her B.S. degree in chemistry and mathematics from Bennett College for Women.  She also received master’s degrees in both earth science with emphasis in geology and in education from the University of Wisconsin.  Further study was done at Cornell University, Rutgers University, William and Mary College, Long Island University, Old Dominion University, the University of Virginia, Hampton University and Lehigh University.

She enjoyed teaching in Newport News for 30 years, for 18 months at the Laboratory School of UW-Milwaukee, and for two years at Hamilton Technical School and Secondary Teachers College in Victoria, Australia where she was the first African-American to receive an International Teaching Fellowship.  While in Australia, she was stricken with a rare paralyzing disease, Guillain-Barre’ Syndrome (GBS), but after months of hospitalization continued her teaching career in Newport News, VA.

Surviving are her nieces Rachel R. Zeigler (George), Tracy Fox and Katie Alsop and nephew William L. Roston (wife Elaine) and their families and a host of cousins and friends.

Gladys is a member of World Victory Church and Life Center of Newport News, VA and a former member of White Rock Baptist Church.  She is a member of the Newport News Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., the Board of the John Avery Boys and Girls Clubs, the Peninsula League of Women, Inc., Phyllis Wheatley YWCA in Newport News, the Beach Erosion Board of Newport News, AARP, and for many years a member of the National Education Association (NEA), the Newport News (NNEA) and the National Association of Geology Teachers.

In lieu of flowers, checks may be sent payable to The GBS/CIDP Foundation and mailed to THE HOLLY BUILDING, 104 ½ FORREST AVENUE, NARBERTH, PA 19072 to further research in this crippling disease which affected Gladys  so early in her career.