When State Representative Caroletta Alicea tells the story of when she and her mother, former State Representative Claire Clarke, met Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., she remembers walking in a parade through the streets of West Hempstead, NY, on Long Island, in the early 1960s with the other girls of her 4H troupe.

Clarke, a 4H leader, had told the girls there would be a “surprise” waiting for them at the end of the parade, but Alicea didn’t imagine the surprise would be a motorcade of long black cars and Dr. King with his window rolled down. Alicea started running and was the first child to reach the car. As he reached out the window and touched her hand, Clarke appeared beside her and confidently introduced herself.

“My mom walked over and she said, ‘I’m Claire Clarke and this is my daughter, Caroletta Clarke,'” Alicea recalled. “She was so outgoing.”

Claire Clarke of Boscawen, a former state representative and educator, child advocate and pioneer for women of color, died Jan. 15, the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. She was 92.

Friends and family remember Clarke as a charismatic presence whose 4ft 11in stature, which earned him the family nickname “Tiny”, contrasted with his big personality.

She strongly believed, according to Alicea, that anyone could do anything if they tried, regardless of ethnicity, race, or background. It was a perseverance that she embodied and encouraged in her students, her daughter and her grandchildren.

“She used to tell everyone, ‘There’s no word like I can’t. The word is impossible, and you can,” Alicea recalls with a laugh. “You can do whatever you want to do. She was very adamant about it.

Born in New Jersey, Clarke met her husband, David Clarke Jr., while she was in college in North Carolina, and they lived in Tennessee and Utah before moving to Harlem and then Long Island, where Claire Clarke was a teacher and counselor and David Clarke taught. at NYU and worked at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

When the family moved to Boscawen in 1969 for David Clarke’s new job at New Hampshire State Prison, Alicea said they were the only colored family in town. Although many residents weren’t used to seeing people who looked different, it wasn’t long before Claire Clarke joined the Boscawen Congregational Church and quickly befriended nearly everyone. people in the community.

“Wherever we went, she was like the mayor,” said Christian Alicea, Clarke’s eldest grandson. “She knew everyone. She always had time for everyone. … So it made sense, in her later years, for her to go into politics. It was so natural for her to always be in touch with people.

Clarke, a social butterfly, threw big parties at their Boscawen home with an above-ground pool and hosted people who needed accommodation in town. She taught her sister’s children to swim and had many talents including knitting, crocheting, singing, piano and tap dancing.

Over the years, she has been involved in a myriad of community groups, including the church choir, the Zonta Club of Concord, the Old Home Day Committee, the New Hampshire League for the Hard of Hearing, and national organizations. such as the Delta Sigma Theta sorority, the NAACP and the AARP. .

“The life of the party, extremely authentic,” said Christian Alicea. “I think that’s what drew people to her. She wasn’t trying to be someone she wasn’t to fit into what she might have thought people would expect of her. She was just who she was.

Clarke worked for 33 years as a guidance counselor at Winnisquam Regional High School in Tilton. She was certified SAIF, specialist in the assessment of intellectual functioning. In those days, said Caroletta Alicea, being a guidance counselor was convenient. Clarke did the students’ laundry, fed them, found them clothes and shoes if they needed them, mentored them, visited their homes, and spoke with their families.

“She just didn’t believe in abused children,” Caroletta Alicea said. “If she thought she could help, then she would help. If she heard that a child needed sneakers, she would get children’s sneakers. She was calling me, ‘Caroletta, clean out the closet.’ ”

Clarke’s friend, former state representative Deborah Wheeler, recalls a time when a kid at Franklin’s IGA grocery store asked why Clarke’s skin color was different. Clarke responded by asking the girl if she liked flowers and explained that “flowers come in many colors.”

“The little one kind of sat there for a minute, thinking, and then came back with, ‘Yes, flowers come in many colors,'” Wheeler recalled. “I believe that’s when Claire said, ‘A lot of people are of many colors. I thought it was a really good way to explain to people that we are all different but we are also all the same.

Wanting to help students in more than one district, Clarke ran and won a seat on the Merrimack Valley School Board, where she remained for 15 years.

“She was sometimes the only voice for a certain something, but she would stick to her guns and say, ‘No, it has to be like that,'” Caroletta Alicea said. “She was never afraid to speak up, ever.”

Clarke also served as the chair of the Boscawen Police Commission, where Merrimack County Sheriff David Croft, who was Boscawen’s police chief at the time, recalls that she had many ideas that were ” ahead of its time”.

“She was talking about things 20 years ago that we’re finally talking about today — de-escalation, mental illness, substance use disorders,” Croft said. “Claire always had really believable ideas about things I should try to do, start new programs, try to give back to the community.”

At the urging of community members, Clarke ran for and was elected as the State Representative for Merrimack County District 6, where she served five terms from 2000 to 2010. She was a member of the education committee and the national black caucus of state legislators. She was the main sponsor of two bills that became law, a which provided additional funding for charter schools and another one which clarified the state’s obligation to pay for special education services for court-ordered students.

Caroletta Alicea said her mother was the inspiration and encouragement behind her own political career.

“When I decided to run as a lawmaker, I said, ‘God, I don’t want to run after you. I don’t know if I can do that on what I’ve done,'” Caroletta Alicea said. “My mom was like, ‘Oh, yeah, definitely. You’re okay. You have this. ”

Clarke developed Alzheimer’s disease near the end of her life and lived at the Merrimack County Nursing Home. Many people who worked there and went there were delighted to see their former guidance counselor again.

Clarke was predeceased by her husband, David C. Clarke Jr. She is survived by one sister, daughter, three grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

There will be an open celebration of Clarke’s life on June 20 at the Veterans Cemetery in Boscawen.