Seniors lobbyist Thelma Clark leaves lasting legacy
Thelma Clark, a true citizen lobbyist at the Nevada Legislature, who lobbied on behalf of seniors, died Sunday at the age 90. Clark was an icon at the Legislature, starting in 1981 when she started registering as a lobbyist in Carson City to advocate on behalf of seniors living in manufactured housing.
She looked like the proverbial little-old-lady, yet she had impressive lobbying skills which earned her the respect of legislators, who worked closely with her to write laws impacting manufactured housing and later utilities. She was still working the phones as a volunteer for AARP during the 2007 Legislature, even though she was then 88 and ill.
“Nothing stood in her way, no one was too big, nothing scared her. She knew the system and always had her facts prepared,” said her friend, former Assemblyman Larry Spitler. “She would have been a wonderful legislator.”
In my book, she left more of a legacy than some of the weaker lawmakers up there.
Services will be at Palm Mortuary, 1325 N. Main St., at 10 a.m. Saturday and visitation will be at the morturary on Friday between 1 p.m. and 7 p.m.
Thelma Clark in 1996