{"id":1021,"date":"2011-12-29T09:13:30","date_gmt":"2011-12-29T17:13:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?p=1021"},"modified":"2017-10-24T05:14:14","modified_gmt":"2017-10-24T12:14:14","slug":"meet-a-scientologist-octogenarian-frances-clark-remembers-it-all","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2011\/12\/meet-a-scientologist-octogenarian-frances-clark-remembers-it-all\/","title":{"rendered":"Meet a Scientologist: Octogenarian Frances Clark Remembers it All"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Frances Clark was 50 in 1973 when she first encountered Scientology.\u00a0 Nearly 40 years later, at 88, she is still going strong.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Growing up in South Carolina during the Great Depression, Frances Clark had already graduated from high school and begun training as a nurse when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. With war declared, her once-sleepy Southern town was suddenly teeming with soldiers.\u00a0 They came from all over the country and all walks of life, and they were ready for action.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe soldiers had their own radio station and someone I knew at Fort Jackson invited me there one day.\u00a0 That\u2019s where I met David, my first husband,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

David was the son of a well-known New York radio announcer, who wangled a transfer for his son and new daughter-in-law to Army Air Force Command in New Haven, Connecticut.\u00a0 There, Clark got a job as a cancer research assistant in the anatomy department of the medical school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose were such exciting times\u2014all the famous musicians of the day were in the Army and I got to meet Glenn Miller and other music greats,\u201d says Clark.<\/p>\n

But life was far from exciting a few years later when Clark, then 33 and divorced, was living in a bad neighborhood in New York, trying to raise two young sons on her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy children\u2019s godmother had moved to California and invited me to join her there,\u201d she says. \u201cSo I packed them up and we flew to San Jose.\u201d<\/p>\n

That was 1957, and Clark supported her boys, first as a nurses\u2019 aide at a local hospital and later as a senior lab assistant in the pathology department of the county hospital.<\/p>\n

In 1973, she learned about Scientology from the friend of one of her sons, and what she heard made sense to her.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll my life I had been very shy,\u201d says Clark.\u00a0 \u201cI believe that was really at the bottom of most of my problems in life. I was having a rough time.\u00a0 Among other things, I had frequent headaches from stress, and I was taking painkillers to handle it. I didn\u2019t want to do that, but didn\u2019t feel I had any choice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Clark\u2019s first experience with Scientology was a communication course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really enjoyed it,\u201d she says. \u201cI overcame the shyness, the stress disappeared\u2014everything started getting better.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the past 23 years, Clark has been working at the Church of Scientology of Los Gatos. Even at 88, she works part-time and is very proud that although her stamina isn\u2019t what it used to be, her memory is as strong as ever.<\/p>\n

What Clark likes best about Scientology is the truth\u2014that\u2019s what she was looking for and what she found.<\/p>\n

\u201cOf course life isn\u2019t always pleasant, but no matter what occurs, I recover very rapidly,\u201d she says.\u00a0 \u201cI am at peace, and I know I cause what happens in my life.\u00a0 And I live the life I choose.\u201d<\/p>\n

To meet more than 200 Scientologists and hear their stories watch the \u201cMeet a Scientologist<\/a>\u201d\u00a0videos at\u00a0www.Scientology.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

###<\/p>\n

The popular \u201cMeet a Scientologist\u201d profiles on the Church of Scientology International Video Channel at Scientology.org now total more than 200 broadcast-quality documentary videos featuring Scientologists from diverse locations and walks of life. The personal stories are told by Scientologists who are educators, teenagers, skydivers, a golf instructor, a hip-hop dancer, IT manager, stunt pilot, mothers, fathers, dentists, photographers, actors, musicians, fashion designers, engineers, students, business owners and more.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

A digital pioneer and leader in the online religious community, in April 2008 the Church of Scientology became the first major religion to launch its own official YouTube Video Channel, which has now been viewed by millions of visitors.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Frances Clark was 50 in 1973 when she first encountered Scientology.\u00a0 Nearly 40 years later, at 88, she is still going strong. Growing up in South Carolina during the Great Depression, Frances Clark had already graduated from high school and begun training as a nurse when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. With war declared, her once-sleepy […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":222,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[307,3],"class_list":["post-1021","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-scientologist","tag-scientology"],"yoast_head":"\nMeet a Scientologist: Octogenarian Frances Clark Remembers it All<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Frances Clark was 50 in 1973 when she first encountered Scientology.\u00a0 Nearly 40 years later, at 88, she is still going strong. 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