Clarke, Mildred

CLARKE (HEYWARD), Mildred "Bunny"

Mildred Heyward Clarke, "Bunny" to all who loved her, age 82, of Atlanta, Georgia, passed away on August 1, 2023, in Athens. Bunny was born in Bronxville, New York, to Mildred Goodrum Heyward and Andrew H. Heyward II, on April 10, 1941. She was born on Easter weekend, hence the nickname. When Bunny was five years old, her family moved back to Macon, Georgia, where she later attended Miller High School for Girls. Later, Bunny attended the University of Georgia, where she earned a BA in English and was a member of the Alpha Delta Pi sorority.

Bunny met her beloved husband, G. Clisby Clarke, the summer after her freshman year, and they married on July 25, 1964. Bunny and Clisby moved to Illinois, where he attended graduate school for one year until they moved to Cincinnati, Ohio, where Bunny loved teaching 11th-grade English, and Clisby worked for Proctor and Gamble. Some of her favorite early memories were made with their lifelong best friends in Cincinnati.

Bunny and Clisby started their family in Fairfield, Connecticut, in 1969, with their first daughter, Katherine, and a second daughter, Caroline, in late 1970. Bunny cherished her life and friendships in Connecticut where she was involved in various aspects of service through the Junior League. After a move back south to Atlanta, Bunny continued her work with the Junior League of Atlanta through singing groups, and working at Georgia Mental Health Institute and Metro Atlanta Recovery Residences.

Bunny is well-remembered for her beautiful voice and love of music. When she was a little girl, she marched up to the choir master at her church in Macon and told him she wanted to sing in his choir with all the adults. He told her that if she could memorize all the hymns each week, she was welcome to join. She did just that, and sang in the church choir at St. Paul's Episcopal Church until high school graduation. In their marriage, Bunny and Clisby could sing the perfect duet. She spent many evenings in their lifetime standing beside him singing as he played his piano into the wee hours.

In her later years, she and Clisby found their happy place in Highlands, North Carolina, where Bunny thrived on being with her friends in Garden Club, bridge group, and book clubs.

Bunny's most cherished job was that of wife and mother. She is remembered by her daughters for her talents as a gracious hostess to all at her epic dinner parties, and her ability to make all those around her feel welcome and comfortable. To her family, she was simply the greatest mom and wife alive, and the glue that held everything and everyone together. Bunny's gift of getting to the heart of any matter made her a true friend and confidante while always keeping a dry wit and sense of humor.

Bunny was preceded in death by her husband of 50 years, Clisby Clarke; and her brother, Andrew H. Heyward III. She is survived by her daughters, Katherine Clarke Buckner (James) and Caroline Clarke Boggs (Chris); her grandchildren, Charlie, Sammy, and Kendall Boggs, and Lucy and Clarke Buckner; sister-in-law, Carol Inman Heyward; and extended family, Andrew H. Heyward IV, Laura Ellen Heyward McClochlin, Joseph R. Clarke and family, Mary Katherine Clarke, and Richard Clarke.

Services will be held on Monday, August 7, 2023, at Peachtree Road United Methodist Church at 11:00 AM, 3180 Peachtree Rd. NE, Atlanta, GA 30305.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to the Alzheimer's Association.

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Funeral Home Information

H.M. Patterson & Son-Oglethorpe Hill Chapel

4550 Peachtree Road Ne

Atlanta, GA