Marguerite Clark was born April 5, 1915 in Waterloo, Iowa. The daughter of William and Viola Simmons Clark. At fourteen, her mother died leaving five children. Two of her siblings died in the Korean War. She attended East High School, and after completing eleventh grade, married Henry J. Williams. They had two children, Davetta Mae Williams and Margaret Danese Williams-Rudd. Subsequently she divorced, and began working as a domestic during the Great Depression. She eventually remarried to William H. VanArsdale, whose wife had deceased, and became the stepmother to Russell, Barbara, Carolyn (Jefferson), William Jr. (Sweet Pea), Richard, Rogel, LaVerne (Babe), and Shirley (Crabtree) VanArsdale.
Ms. VanArsdale was a life-long member of Payne Memorial AME Church in Waterloo. She was a part of the congregation that was led by Pastor George Stinson responsible for building and relocating the church from the corner of Mobile and Albany to its current location at Oneida and Mobile. Noteworthy church endeavors included the Matron’s Club, Susie Brooks and Edythe Primm Missionary Society, Celestial Choir, Usher Board, Sunday School, Vacation Bible School, Adult Bible Study, and in 1998 was distinguished as a Deaconess. She was honored in 1980 for 50 years at Payne, and again in 2005 for 75 years. Notably during that time, she represented Payne as a member of Church Women United, a public service organization whose purposes are to eradicate poverty and promote projects that end violence and promote diversity, peace and justice. Over the years she held a number of offices, including President, and in 1994 she was honored as Woman of the Year, and in 1995 was recognized as a Valiant Woman.
Her second career spanned 40 years in nutrition and food service. For a period of time she also held a “third shift” position as matron at Black Hawk County Jail. She retired from Head Start in 1986 after 21 years. After that she taught nutrition and cooking to children at the YWCA, volunteered in the intensive care unit at Allen Hospital, and served as coordinator for Jesse Cosby Neighborhood Center food service, including organizing volunteers to deliver meals to seniors. Her other duties included preparing a monthly calendar of activities for seniors and youth as well as making presentations to businesses, civic and religious organizations describing the Center’s history and senior programs and experiences.
Her post high school education included certification and bonding as a Conservator in the early seventies. Accordingly, she served an internship in the law office of former Mayor Leo W Rooff. He subsequently encouraged her to earn a certificate in Nutrition and Homemaking at UNI. She then went on to earn a certificate in Sanitation from the Iowa State Department of Health. To facilitate her third career, she attended Hawkeye Community College and studied beginning keyboarding, computers, internet and MS Office for seniors. That enabled her to complete her working years in the Waterloo office of the Iowa State Department of Human Services. Notably, in 2005 she was selected as one of two Iowa Outstanding Older Workers by the Iowa Older Workers Employment Partnership, a division of Iowa Workforce Development.
She was a tireless family matriarch. She led by example, always encouraging and demanding the best. If she didn’t think something was right, she would not hesitate to say so. If she couldn’t do it, then it was not meant to be. She was a voracious reader, and leaves an extensive library of Christian books and study materials, as well as cook books, reflecting her greatest passions. In 2005 at the age of 90, the Waterloo African American Historical and Cultural Museum featured her in a video interview documenting her experience covering the Great Migration/Industrial Revolution to the present High Tech age in Waterloo.

Survived by: a daughter, Davetta Mae Williams of Claremont, CA; six grandchildren, Todd and Tal Clayter, Kim and Lyncoya Young, Ralph Jr. and Marguerite “Rita” Rudd; 18 great-grandchildren; nine great-great-grandchildren; and five stepchildren, Russell, Barbara, Carolyn (Jefferson), Rogel, and Shirley (Crabtree) VanArsdale..

Preceded in death by: her parents; a daughter, Margaret Rudd; three stepchildren, William Jr. “Sweet Pea”, Richard, Edward LaVerne “Babe” Van Arsdale and four brothers, Archie, William, LeRoy and James Clark.