In memoriam

In memoriam September 2015

Posted September 25, 2015

Pat Fencl (center) with her children. Back row, from left: Doug Lumbard, Steve Lumbard. Middle row, left: Paula Lumbard, Pat Fencl, Lola Lumbard Leen. Front row, left: Jeanne Lumbard Federovitch holding her son Nico, and Dirk Lumbard. Photo by Clark College, 2010.

Patricia “Pat” Fencl ’81, a retired Clark faculty member and alumna, passed away in July. As an instructor in Clark College’s Adult Basic Education program, Pat Fencl taught and counseled students of all ages as they pursued their GED. She saw incredible potential in many of them even though they still faced obstacles.

Pat had a strong passion for helping others, and she knew first-hand the value of education no matter what the age. After raising her own family, she enrolled in Clark College and “fell in love with history.” She continued on to get her bachelor’s from The Evergreen State College and master’s in history at the University of Portland. She returned to Clark to teach history in the Mature Learning program, as well as GED preparatory courses in Adult Basic Education until her retirement in 1998.

In 1996, she created the Pat Fencl GED Scholarship Endowment, which provides a full-year of tuition for a student in the Adult Basic Education program who completes her/his GED and continues studying at Clark College. Pat multiplied her generosity through her family, who contribute annually in lieu of holiday gifts to grow the endowment fund.

Pat and her husband James were Clark College Foundation Presidential Award for Excellence recipients in 2010 for their philanthropic leadership at Clark. We will dearly miss you Pat.

This story first appeared Clark College’s Partners newsletter, 2010

Carl Addy ’69
Mary Kay Cline ’13
Charles Coatney ’72
Jim Cooper
Viola “Vi” Coy
Vionne Crouch
Donald Dineen
George Ek
Melvin Evans
Patricia “Pat” Fencl ’81
Donald “Don” Generaux
Gary Hart
James Johnson
Christopher “Chris” Lashbrook ’13
Edward Lathrop ’97
John Lofgren ’61
Terrance “Terry” Nelson
Barbara Olson
Edward “Ed” Ritola
William “Doyle” Schell ’59
Patricia “Patti” Schultz ’10
Patrick Shular
Esther Sterkowicz ’65
Michael Stoddard
Harry “Pat” Sutherland ’48
Michele “Shelly” Taie ’94
Gary Tubbs
Stanley Underwood
Michael Wirkkala
Edwin “Ed” Zoll