Judith Holmes Clarke

Obituary of Judith Holmes Clarke, 1942-2025

Judith Holmes Clarke, age 82, passed away peacefully in her sleep Sunday, March 9, 2025 in Midlothian, Texas. She was married 56 years to her husband Richard Lionel Clarke who passed away in 2020. She is the mother of seven children and a devoted member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. She lived a life dedicated to the continual creation and dissemination of beauty and wonder. Her creative talent has touched hearts and inspired imaginations for many generations. She is deeply loved and will be missed. Judie was born on October 6, 1942 in Hollywood, CA to Dorisse and Raymond Jacobs. As a little girl with blond Shirley-Temple curls, she appeared in a Fosters Freeze commercial, for whom her father advertised. She grew up in Burbank and graduated from John Burroughs High School in 1960.

Influenced by her parents’ artistic and creative talents, Judie’s creative skills caught the eye of her high school teachers, and she received an architectural scholarship at Art Centre College of Design in Pasadena, CA at age seventeen. This served as a foundation for a bright and successful career over the next several decades.

In 1962, Judie met Richard Clarke and they were married on October 12, 1963 in the Los Angeles Temple in Santa Monica, CA. Soon afterwards they began building a family of seven children, creatively named in her imaginative way: The first letter of their children’s names, from the eldest to the youngest, spell the family’s last name.

During the course of raising a family, Judie engaged in numerous activities, all the while imbuing her own sense of style and flare. She served in the Church as a primary teacher, youth adviser, member of the Stake Primary Presidency, Relief Society instructor and a Church Service Missionary with her husband in the Los Angeles Temple. She magnified her responsibilities with her ability to communicate visually, leaving lasting impressions on the minds and hearts of those with whom she associated. She freely shared her artistic talents to enhance productions such as ward and stake gatherings, musicals, cultural events and roadshows with poster presentations, makeup, costume creations and set/background design masterpieces.

To meet the needs of her growing family, Judie took on various projects involving fashion design and book illustration, which led to numerous opportunities for freelance work with Hanna Barbera, MCA Universal Animation and ultimately with Disney Publishing. While working for these animation giants, she took the time to draw silly little sketches on her children’s school lunch bags, late/absentee notes to the school attendance clerk and on the envelopes of letters to her sons serving church missions. The highlight of her career culminated with the creation of the Pixie Hollow Fairies and she was honored to be among the first cohort of Master Artists at Disney Publishing. She was fortunate to share her unique style of illustration across the country in New York and internationally in Italy and France. With all her professional success, she would often say her greatest creation was her family, for whom she sacrificed in countless ways.

She was preceded in death by her parents, Dorisse and Raymond Jacobs, her brother Raymond Jacobs, her sister Janice Simmons and her grandson, Colton Clarke. She is survived by her seven children and their spouses: Corinne (Steve) Holden , Lorraine (Jeff) Huffman, Adam (Mayra) Clarke, Russell (Cindy) Clarke, Kourt (Stephenie) Clarke, Erinn (Amir) El-Farra, and Samantha (Dan) Hollister. She was blessed with 29 grandchildren and with 30 great grandchildren and counting.