Diane Brandley Clarke, a former resident of Rumson and Fair Haven, died July 17, 2020, in Scottsdale, Arizona. She was 92.
Diane was born and raised in Caldwell and attended Caldwell schools before graduating from Mary Burnham School in Northampton, Massachusetts. She received her bachelor’s degree from Wells College in Aurora, New York.
After graduation, Diane worked at Time Inc. in Manhattan, where she met Charles W. “Bud” Clarke, a young doctor on the medical staff. They married in 1951 and moved to Summit after he accepted a position as an internist with the Summit Medical Group.
They lived in Summit for more than 30 years, raising their family there, before moving to Rumson and later Fair Haven. Diane was predeceased by her husband in 2011 and moved to Scottsdale in 2015.
Diane was a tirelessly creative woman who expressed herself through oil painting, watercolors, murals, sculpture, garden design, floral arrangements and the decorative arts.
She was an avid gardener and a prolific contributor to the Smithsonian’s Archives of American Gardens, researching and documenting historic and notable gardens throughout the region.
She was a member of the Rumson Garden Club and the Summit Garden Club and was awarded the Garden Club of America medal for horticultural excellence in 2004.
In addition to her husband, Diane was also predeceased by a brother, David Brandley.
She is survived by three sons, Frederic, Charles W. III and Christopher; three grandchildren, Matthew, Heather and John; and four nieces and six nephews.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, Sept. 18, at 1 p.m. at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Essex Fells.
Memorial contributions may be made to Wells College or the Garden Club of America.
The article originally appeared in the September 9 – 15, 2021 print edition of The Two River Times.
