Farabee Clark, organ donor activist, dies

PORTLAND – Ruth Farabee Clark will be remembered for singing and dancing onstage, and for her vivacious personality. For many, though, she’ll be best remembered for her efforts to raise awareness about organ and tissue donation.

Farabee Clark, who died Jan. 27 at 55, twice received kidneys donated by siblings as she battled juvenile diabetes and two heart attacks.

The Durham woman was such a fighter that her death surprised family and friends. They thought she would win the latest battle as she had so many times during her life.

“We knew intellectually that this would happen someday, but from the time we were little, we assumed it wouldn’t,” said her sister Rita Bush of Pennsylvania.

Clark struggled with complications from the disease after being diagnosed at age 11. She had her first kidney transplant in 1979, her sister Judith donating one of her organs.

The transplant saved her life, but Clark would fall ill again in 1993, and underwent triple bypass surgery after two heart attacks. In 1997, she received a second transplant, this time from her brother Allen.

Through all of this, Clark continued to live her life as she chose. She was involved in numerous theater productions and was selected to carry the Olympic torch in 2002.

She also became a passionate advocate for organ and tissue donation, and often spoke to groups about coping with chronic illness.

In a newspaper interview in 1985, Clark told a reporter that speaking about her illnesses was worrisome at first.

“I was worried that people would think I was just looking for attention,” she admitted. “But then I realized that if by talking I can make a difference for someone who’s sick, who thinks there’s nothing left in life … Well, I’ll talk ’til I’m blue in the face.”

Talk she did, as well as volunteer her time to organizations. Clark was a founding trustee of the National Kidney Foundation of Maine, serving on its board from 1983 to 1995. She served as president for the organization from 1990 to 1993.

“She was dedicated to what she believed in,” said Tammy Atwood, executive director of the foundation. “She was always showing up at the office for a meeting with a smile. We had a meeting just a few weeks ago, and Ruth was, she was just herself.”

Despite her illnesses, Clark was an enthusiastic participant in the U.S. and World Transplant Games, competing in track and field and swimming events against fellow organ recipients. She recruited others to join her.