Mary Jean Adams Armstrong Clark was born in her parent’s home on Walnut Street in Waterloo on April 9th, 1918. She attended Alcott Elementary School where a little boy named Jimmy Armstrong sat behind her and would “dip her pigtails in the inkwell” She discovered her interest and talent in music at an early age, and her school days were filled with violin and piano lessons, sewing as a hobby, and cooking with her mother. She also loved to swim and competed in swimming and diving. In high school she was concertmaster of the East High orchestra under their conductor and her music teacher, Elizabeth Green, who was one of the founders of the Waterloo Symphony. Mary Jean played with the Waterloo Symphony orchestra starting in 1933 at the age of 15 under their conductor, George Dasch, and was the youngest member of the symphony at that time. She graduated from high school in 1935.

She attended Iowa State Teachers’ College (UNI) for her first two years of college, and then attended the University of Michigan her junior year and began work on a music major. She transferred to the University of Illinois for her senior year to be near her longtime beau, Jim Armstrong. They married on June 29th, 1939, and moved to Iowa City where Jim was in law school. She finished her music degree in piano performance at the University of Iowa in 1940.
During the war years Jim was stationed in Clarinda, Iowa, at the prisoner of war camp, and Mary Jean was hired as a typist at the camp. They settled permanently in Waterloo after the war. Music and friendship were the focus of Mary Jean’s life during the years they were trying to start a family, and she returned to playing in the symphony. In 1946 she became a member of Chapter IX of the PEO sisterhood. In that same year she was part of an executive board of dedicated music lovers who organized the Waterloo Teachers Community Concert Association, (now Metro Concerts), whose goal was to bring some of the country’s best headline talent in music and artistry to the community. She joined Ladies’ Musical Improvement (LMI) in 1948, an organization that provides a platform to perform for its musical members.
In 1950 Mary Jean left the symphony to devote her time and energy to raising a family. Mary Florence was born in November of 1950, and Elizabeth Kathleen arrived in 1958. Through their growing years she continued her work for Community Concerts, was president of the PTA, a Girl Scout leader, and hostess extraordinaire. She enjoyed both PEO and LMI, deriving as much from the bonds of friendship as she did from each group’s sense of purpose. She belonged to Junior League and St. Ellen’s church circle through Christ Episcopal (and subsequently Trinity Episcopal) Church.
Mary Jean divorced Jim in 1975 and returned to playing in the symphony where she found refuge, solace, and a renewed spirit. She married Craig Clark, in 1977. She worked for Welcome Wagon from 1988 to the mid-90’s, promoting the best assets of Waterloo and Cedar Falls and encouraging those new to the community to discover the joys of the symphony performances. In 1996 she spearheaded a project to rename the East High auditorium for Elizabeth Green, who had become a well known educator, musician, and author. The auditorium was renamed in Elizabeth’s honor in 1997.
At the age of 81, in 1999, Mary Jean courageously left Craig and forged ahead on her own once again, settling into an apartment at Lantern Square. She had retired from the symphony at the start of its 1998 season when she was its oldest member, but regularly attended the concerts she so loved. Along with the fellowship of LMI and PEO, she spent the years after divorcing Craig in the company of friends, enjoying music, movies, bridge, and often a casual dinner, when she and her girlfriends would watch the Iowa football and basketball games on TV. She traveled often to visit both Mary, in California, and Beth, in Georgia. She adored her grandchildren and delighted in the birth of her first great-grandchild. A year ago, thanks to the love, concern, and generosity of two friends who were concerned her safety, security, health, and welfare, she was endowed, anonymously, into Friendship Village. She was thankful and appreciative for these “angels”, and described her life there as “very cozy”.

Mary Jean will be remembered as kind, generous of spirit, helpful to many, and a “friendship matchmaker”-she loved introducing people whom she believed would enjoy each other or find mutual benefit as a result of her introduction. She was courageous and strong, cheerful and optimistic. She will be missed by many whose lives she touched.