Deborah Giles Clark

Clark, Deborah Giles November 9, 1958 - May 1, 2016 The circle of life closed for Deborah Clark on the morning of Sunday, May 1st, when she passed away in her sleep at her home in Santa Barbara, California. Deborah was 57 years young and had endured challenging hardships during the course of her courageous battle against ALS for the past 20 months with her trademark grace, dignity, and indefatigable fighting spirit. Deborah steadfastly refused to let her disability dampen her intense passion for life. Deborah is survived by her husband of 21 years, Bradley Clark, and was a loving and devoted mother to her daughter, Patricia L. Clark, and her son, John W. Clark. The family, in close cooperation with a very admirable and dedicated team of home care associates and hospice medical assistance, endeavored to nurture and care for Deborah during the course of her progressive illness. The family is forever grateful to all those that have assisted in innumerable and immeasurable ways over these many months of increasingly challenging circumstance to provide the highest quality of care in the comforts of our home. Deborah was born to Billy and Frances Giles on November 9, 1958 in San Antonio, Texas, the second of three children including older surviving brother, Mark Giles, and younger sister, Denise Bilderback. Deborah graduated from the University of Texas at Austin in 1980 with a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was a member of the Texas Society of Certified Public Accountants since 1986. Deborah always had a very vibrant and energetic spirit as well as a lifelong passion for helping others. She was an avid volleyball player and coach while growing up and living in Texas. After marrying Bradley Clark in 1995 and moving to Santa Barbara in 1997, Deborah's interests in physical fitness led her to being a very active member of the Santa Barbara YMCA where she made many close friends and especially enjoyed the water aerobics program up until the last couple months of her illness. Deborah's love of playing piano from her childhood encouraged her to form a local piano group that continues to enjoy once monthly meetings to play together at a local nursing home. Deborah's strong sense of service to others led her to be a very active member and officer at the local, regional, and state levels of the Epsilon Sigma Alpha service organization that supports a number of distinguished charities nationwide. Her keen sense of adventure and joy of life has been catalogued as a precious collection of memories with her friends and family gleaned from a lifetime of shared travels, expeditions, vacations, and other exceptional and memorable experiences. Deborah will be missed dearly by all that knew and loved her. Arrangements have been entrusted to Welch-Ryce-Haider Funeral Chapels with a memorial service scheduled on Friday, May 13th, at 11:00 a.m. in Goleta.