Ella L. Clark

Ella L. Clark

WEST CORNWALL — Ella L. Clark, 83, a social worker, writer, and lover of nature and the Post Office, died Nov. 7, 2024 at Vassar Brothers Hospital in Poughkeepsie, after an acute stroke. Her family was with her in her last week.

Ella was predeceased by her parents, Benjamin S. and Charlotte L. Clark, her brother, Benjamin Clark, and her sister Tib Clark. Ella is survived by her daughter, Cristina Mathews of Fort Bragg, California, and her husband Jason and son Milo, her son Alexander Mathews, of Newton, Massachusetts, and his wife Olivia and children Ariana, Damian, and Torey, her daughter Jessica Meyer, of Pacific Palisades, California, and her husband Tim and children Ione and Nikos; and her sister Charlotte de Bresson of Paris.

Ella was born in New York City on Dec. 23, 1940. She was educated at Milton Academy and Radcliffe College. She married Richard Mathews in 1965; soon after, they traveled more than a thousand miles down the Yukon River. After building a house in Amenia, they moved, with their two children, Alexander and Cristina, then 2 and 3, onto a fishing boat, and fished commercially, first in southeast Alaska for salmon, and then up and down the West Coast for albacore.

In fall 1972, Ella moved on shore with the children, and her marriage ended. In Point Reyes Station, California, she found a close community of artists and carpenters and became involved in community projects. With Jonathon Meyer she had her third child, Jessica.

Ella moved back East in 1983, landing in Sharon. She was an EMT on the Sharon volunteer ambulance crew, and worked at Oblong Books in Millerton.

Ella’s real career began in 1988, when she began working for the town of Sharon as a social worker. For 31 years, she threw herself into the work, focusing especially on affordable housing, health services, and fuel assistance. Ella founded several organizations, including the Chore Service and the Sharon Community Foundation. She served on various boards and commissions, including the Sharon Hospital Board and the Cornwall Conservation Board. Ella was delighted to be named the Grange Citizen of the Year in 2007.

Ella was a prolific correspondent and writer. Ella enjoyed research, number crunching, and analysis to support grant applications and reports. She was a frequent Cornwall Chronicle contributor, often writing about the natural world, always choosing interesting, non-obvious topics. She loved digging into archives, getting the facts and voices right, and winnowing down what she had learned to the compact size the Chronicle demanded.

Ella moved to West Cornwall in 1991. Firmly rooted on Town Street, she “loved bird watching, taking photos of bears, smoking cigarettes after dinner, fighting for equity for all people, and putting orange peels on top of the fireplace,” as her granddaughter Ariana remembers.

A celebration of Ella’s life will be held at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 19, 2025, at the Cornwall Village Meeting House, 8 Bolton Hill Road, Cornwall, Connecticut.

Latest News

A scenic 32-mile loop through Litchfield County

Whenever I need to get a quick but scenic bicycle ride but don’t have time to organize a group ride that involves driving to a meeting point, I just turn right out of my driveway. That begins a 32-mile loop through some of the prettiest scenery in northern Litchfield County.

I ride south on Undermountain Road (Route 41 South) into Salisbury and turn right on Main Street (Route 44 West). If I’m meeting friends, we gather at the parking area on the west side of Salisbury Town Hall where parking is never a problem.

Keep ReadingShow less
Biking Ancramdale to Copake

This is a lovely ride that loops from Ancramdale north to Copake and back. At just over 23 miles and about 1,300 feet of elevation gain, it’s a perfect route for intermediate recreational riders and takes about two hours to complete. It’s entirely on quiet roads with little traffic, winding through rolling hills, open countryside, picturesque farms and several lakes.

Along the way, you’ll pass a couple of farmstands that are worth a quick visit. There is only one hill that might be described as steep, but it is quite short — probably less than a quarter-mile.

Keep ReadingShow less
Taking on Tanglewood

Aerial view of The Shed at Tanglewood in Lenox, Mass.

Provided

Now is the perfect time to plan ahead for symphonic music this summer at Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. Here are a few highlights from the classical programming.

Saturday, July 5: Shed Opening Night at 8 p.m. Andris Nelsons conducts the Boston Symphony Orchestra as Daniil Trifonov plays piano in an All-Rachmaninoff program. The Piano Concerto No. 3 was completed in 1909 and was written specifically to be debuted in the composer’s American tour, at another time of unrest and upheaval in Russia. Trifonev is well-equipped to take on what is considered among the most technically difficult piano pieces. This program also includes Symphonic Dances, a work encapsulating many ideas and much nostalgia.

Keep ReadingShow less
James H. Fox

SHARON — James H. Fox, resident of Sharon, passed away on May 30, 2025, at Vassar Brothers Hospital.

Born in New York, New York, to Herbert Fox and Margaret Moser, James grew up in Hastings-on-Hudson, New York. He spent his summers in Gaylordsville, Connecticut, where he developed a deep connection to the community.

Keep ReadingShow less