Mother, Daughter, Love and a Scholarship

By Carolyn Loder

In 1997, Carolyn (Clark) Loder (B.A. 1975, M.A. 1978) made a charitable contribution to establish the “Mary Beekman Clark Memorial Grant” as an endowed fund to provide financial support for single mothers attending Fresno State.

Carolyn felt there were many scholarships for academic achievement but few for those mothers, like her mother, who struggled to raise a family and get an education.

Mary Beekman was born in 1910, the oldest of 13 (11 living), in Dubuque, Iowa. In those days, the term “living” was commonly used as many children were lost at childbirth or infancy. She was a child during World War I and graduated high school in 1927.

She went to nursing school and married the head of [a] local school. They had four children in five years.
 
World War II broke out in 1939 and her husband enlisted in the Army. He returned home safely and the family relocated to southern California.
 
Beekman’s husband was diagnosed with lung cancer [as a result of World War II gassing]. He died in 1942 and was buried with full military honors, but left behind her and her four children.

Beekman worked full time and placed the children in boarding school, so as not to break them apart. She always wanted a college education but had the financial burden of providing for four young children at a time when programs were not offered to women to help with child care and expenses.

Loder established the scholarship in her [mother’s] name, but 10 years after it was established, the university’s legal counsel contacted her and said the scholarship could not be limited to women; it [also] had to be open to men. Loder agreed to open it to both genders.

It now focuses on Beekman and her second husband, John Clark, who worked for the California Division of Forestry, recognizing his career and Beekman’s life as a mother raising six children in the California Conservation Camp system.

Beekman met Clark as a blind date set up by her friends. During World War II, Clark was Assistant Fire Chief for Kern County Forestry and Fire Control.

They married, raised her four children [and] had two children together — John Nichol Clark Jr. and Carolyn Valeria Clark (Loder).
 
 Loder was born in Woodlake and was raised at the Mt. Bullion Forestry Camp and the Inyo-Mono Conservation Camp. She obtained her Associate in Science degree in Geology from Merced College and her bachelor’s and master’s in Geography from Fresno State, with a minor in Geology. She worked for the U.S. Forest Service for seven summers while attending Fresno State.

She received the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service Merit Award for her contribution to the national minerals/energy program. She was president of the California State Mining and Mineral Museum in Mariposa and the first woman president of the California Mining Association, on its 100 year anniversary.

Loder was named person of the year by the National Association of Women in Construction in 2010, and by the California Mining Association, the New Mexico Mining Association and the Arizona Rock Products Association. She was recognized by the California Women’s Legislature on their 100th anniversary with their Women’s Pathfinder Award.

She received Fresno State’s Top Dog Award in 1995, and is a life member of the Alumni Association.

For the John Nichol Clark and Mary Beekman Clark Memorial Scholarship, recipients must be a Family member of a current or past employee of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or its predecessors or successors or be a current or past employee of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or its predecessors or successors. Academic probationary status or low grade point average will not be used to disqualify an applicant. Recipients can be a full-time or part-time students enrolled at Fresno State.

To learn more about how to support student success by giving, contact Peter Robertson at probertson@csufresno.edu. Those interested in donating toward the Mary Beekman and John Nichol Clark Memorial Grant can visit http://bit.ly/FSAASupport

This story was edited by Marisa Mata.