Cheryl P. Clarke

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CHERYL P. CLARKE

Cheryl was born on July 31, 1948, the first child of Darnell and Elizabeth Clarke and the first grandchild of Marguerite and Samuel C. Pilgrim. Cheryl was educated in the City of Cambridge, Massachusetts school system, and received her Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Elementary Education from Simmons College. Soon thereafter, she received her Juris Doctorate from Suffolk University Law School in Boston, Massachusetts. While matriculating at Suffolk, Cheryl became a member of Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity.

After law school, Cheryl began her legal career in Boston, Massachusetts as a staff attorney at the National Labor Relations Board. Her ambitions then sent her to work in Washington D.C. for the Federal Communication Commission. Wanting to make a difference in her own community, Cheryl returned to Cambridge to sit on the Rent Control Board which was newly formed to help residents unfamiliar with the legal process available to them for housing rights. Cheryl was always ready to participate in a cause to help the people who could be, and were at times, left to fend for themselves in the world of politics.  She involved herself in various political campaigns in the hope that her candidates would bring about changes she knew were necessary.  For example, Cheryl was relentless when working on her first campaign in Cambridge, Massachusetts when her uncle Victor McDonald decided to throw his hat in the ring for a State Representative position.  Cheryl, being the prolific writer that she was, wrote his campaign speeches, rehearsed the presentation with him, and went out and rang doorbells on his behalf.  In that moment, Cheryl was bitten by the political bug and continued to work on many campaigns over the years, advocating for those who did not have a voice, and to support communities that were in need.  She gave her all to each candidate and her confidence in what they wanted to accomplish.  She was preparing to embark on yet another campaign trail and talked about her plans to support the candidate and how far and wide she planned to spread the candidate’s vision for the community.

Cheryl served as an Associate Justice for Village Court, Incorporated Village of Freeport, New York for several years, then moved on to become an Associate General Counsel and Deputy Compliance Officer for the Nassau Health Care Corporation from 2001-2005. From 2007-2013, Cheryl was the Executive Administrator for the Upper Room Christian School in Dix Hills, New York, and became an Arbitrator for the Queens County Civil Court starting in 2009. In addition to serving as an arbitrator, Cheryl also began her own private practice in greater New York. Cheryl prided herself in being a fierce advocate for her clients and she served with integrity. More recently, in addition to all her legal endeavors, Cheryl became a licensed associate real estate broker with EXP Realty, in Valley Stream, New York.

Cheryl was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc., having pledged and participated in charitable programs and education to reach out to young women in need of role models to show them that they could aspire to be who they wanted to be. Cheryl loved to get on the road and visit family and friends and it was always both a surprise and pleasure to see her.

Cheryl loved music of all types and instruments, but most of all she loved to sing.  She joined the choir and choruses wherever she could and always found time for her precious and enriching rehearsals.  She enjoyed her many years singing in the choir at St. Paul AME Church in Cambridge, Massachusetts. When she moved to New York, she became a member of The Cathedral of Incarnation in Garden City, joined the choir, and actively served in various roles, including serving communion, and extending herself to members in need of prayer and comfort in their homes. She knitted many a prayer shawl and gave them to those she loved and those she knew needed covering. Cheryl was a woman of faith and prayed for everyone she knew. She also had a giving heart.

Cheryl was a strong-willed, life loving, caring mother, wife, daughter, sister, aunt, and cousin who will be dearly missed.  She is survived by her son, Graeme Neal, her former spouse, Robert Neal, her aunt Faith McDonald, Faith's children and their families, her brother Lance Clarke and his family, and a host of family and friends that loved and pray for her.  We are all blessed to have been in her presence here on earth. May God bless her and keep her, now and forevermore.

Visiting Hours - Thursday, 8/26, 2-4 PM & 7-9 PM..

Disposition will be private.

www.schmittfuneralhome.com