Irene E. (Lannen) Clark

Irene Elizabeth (Lannen) Clark, 77, of Livingston, MT passed away peacefully of natural causes on Friday, March 13, 2020. Irene was born to Earl and Betty (Robbins) Lannen On December 22, 1942 in Columbus, MT, the oldest of four children. During her early years the family lived on a ranch near Fishtail, MT; the family moved a bit before finally settling down near Pray in 1954. She always talked about how cold the old rock barn was when she milked her cow in the winter. As a teenager Irene had various jobs in Paradise Valley including babysitting, a summer at The Ox Yoke Ranch and Chico Hot Springs. Irene graduated from Park County High School in 1961. On May 7, 1962 she married her sweetheart from down the road, Donley Clark and the couple had three children, Duane, Lanette, and Elaine. They lived on Mill Creek on a small ranch. She always had a large garden, raised chickens to sell the eggs and sold cream from the milk cows. Don and Irene moved to the Shields Valley in 1995 to be closer to her parents. Irene worked various jobs in Paradise Valley as well as working on the ranch and raising the children; including the Pray Store and Chico Hot Springs. She worked at Chico under four owners, mainly in housekeeping, but there were only two jobs she never did - clean the pool and take out horseback rides. During her many years at Chico Irene became an honorary Mom and Grandma to many. Even after retirement finally stuck in 2016 she loved to go back for visits, soaks and onion rings. Irene loved to bake and over the years made many birthday cakes, grooms cakes, anniversary cakes and wedding cakes, for family, friends and neighbors. If you trick or treated back in the day when homemade treats were common you would want to make sure to stop at Clarks early to get some of Irenes homemade donuts. She coached Lanette and Elaines softball team and years later was a proud Grandma watching her granddaughters Cora and Dani as they played T-ball and softball. One of her favorite roles in life was Grandma - babysitting, going to ballgames, plays and concerts. In 2011 Irene took on a new role, GG, great grandmother to Payton Elizabeth. The love for Payton was instant and continued to grow stronger throughout the years. Payton would spend her evenings with GG and any other time she possibly could. Even after Payton moved from Livingston, she came back for several weekend visits all the time and would get lots of GG and Papa Duff Duff love. The bond they had was unbreakable and she was and always will be her GGs girl. They loved watching the animals in the yard together, taking drives for ice cream or trips to Chico and so much more. In 2019 she welcomed her second great grand baby, Hayzley Daun. She loved getting her baby snuggles and watching her grow. Her love for her great granddaughters was special and she made sure they knew how loved they were and always will be.Irene is preceded in death by her parents and husband Donley.She is survived by her children, Duane (Nancy) Clark of Clyde Park, Lanette (Bill) Pinkerton of Sheridan, WY, and Elaine (Lee) Fahrenbruch of Livingston; granddaughters Dani Clark of Belgrade, and Cora Clark (Travis Frazier) and great granddaughters Payton and Hayzley of Sheridan, WY. Siblings Mike (Carol) Lannen, Dan (Gloria) Lannen, Patsy (Tony) Bailey and numerous nieces and nephews. A memorial service is planned for May.Memorials may be sent to Meals on Wheels of Livingston.Franzen-Davis Funeral Home and Crematory has been entrusted with arrangements.