DeLene Clark Holbrook

DeLene Clark Holbrook, 87, of Provo, Utah, passed away on January 3, 2024, due to complications related to Alzheimer's and several falls. Born on July 21, 1936, in American Fork, Utah, she was the only daughter of John William Clark and Ruth Giddings and the older sister to three brothers: Lee, Lynn, and David Clark. Her family moved frequently throughout Utah and Arizona, following her father's educational and job opportunities, finally settling in Meridian, California. There, her parents farmed wheat, safflower, rice, black-eyed beans, and grain sorghum. Her childhood memories included taming feral kittens, praying for her father to avoid the World War II draft, and using pillowcases for traction under their car on a snowy mountain pass.

Her parents prioritized her education, willingly making sacrifices and overlooking the inconvenience of longer travel times to drive her to schools that offered better learning opportunities. DeLene enjoyed Home Economics and served as president of her high school’s Future Homemakers Association, and was the fastest girl runner in her school. After earning an undergraduate degree at Brigham Young University, she completed a Master’s Degree at Cornell University, eventually becoming a Registered Dietitian. Her thesis focused on salt-rising bread, and she had a keen interest in food chemistry, teaching food safety, and pioneering the use of microwave ovens for baking. After graduating from Cornell, she moved to Washington, D.C. to work for the National School Lunch Program.

In Washington D.C., DeLene actively pursued her passion in family history by spending weekends at the Library of Congress and serving on the genealogy committee at her church. The committee tasked her with giving a tour of the Library of Congress to Jay Mack Holbrook, a newcomer with an equally strong interest in family history. Their connection flourished, and after DeLene’s initial “no” responses to his marriage proposals, she eventually said “maybe,” which he interpreted as a “yes.” They were married on December 20, 1962, in the Los Angeles Temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Together, they raised four daughters — Jalene, Lanae, Marinda, and Danelle. Later they joined forces in the side-by-side running of their family history publishing business, Holbrook Research Institute, also known as Archive Publishing.

DeLene moved from the Washington D.C. area to Madison, Wisconsin, for her husband to attend graduate school at the University of Wisconsin. Her memories of Wisconsin were the bitter cold winters, sheltering in the basement with small children during a tornado, and her treasured getaways to the Wisconsin State Historical Society, when she had a babysitter, to do family history research.

The family later relocated to Utah and then Massachusetts. While her husband devoted his energy to founding the family business, DeLene supported the family by working as a nutritionist at the Worcester County Extension Service, and later in the WIC Program (the Women, Infants, and Children Supplemental Nutrition and Education Program) at Day Kimball Hospital in Putnam, Connecticut. There, she used her expertise in nutrition to counsel mothers with young children, as well as pregnant women. She brought the same nutritional resourcefulness to her family, feeding them homemade whole wheat bread, cracked wheat cereal, fruits and vegetables (with deals on overripe produce), powdered milk, little meat, cheese ends, beans, and lentils, on a very tight budget. Although she loved recipes and food preservation (including canning and juicing), she delegated grocery shopping, menu planning, and cooking to her children, and entrusted bread making to her husband.

DeLene loved gardening, and each of her homes, from Massachusetts to Utah, would have fruit trees, grape vines, vegetable gardens, and raspberry bushes. The only downside to gardening was the smelly cow manure, but she didn’t seem to mind it. She became a pest-control expert, teaching her daughters how to eliminate Japanese beetles that plagued the raspberry bushes. She would give her friends and neighbors paper bags of fresh cucumbers and tomatoes when they ripened each summer. She gardened well into her 80s, always with a look of delight when picking the first ripe apricot.

DeLene was an unofficial travel agent, diligently researching books and magazines before the internet era to learn about various travel destinations. Often her travel ideas were inspired by family history clues, and sometimes they coincided with business trips to town halls. With four young children and a Doberman Pinscher in their Volkswagen bug, DeLene and Jay turned these trips into excursions for the children by stopping at town parks and swimming pools, while Jay negotiated with town clerks for access to birth, marriage, and death records for filming and publishing as part of their family business. They often stopped along the way to visit cemeteries in search of ancestors. Whether traveling for business or pleasure, when Jay drove, DeLene served as co-pilot and human GPS, expertly navigating maps and streets with an uncanny sense of direction and a remarkable memory for landmarks. Later in life, she would plan and direct their travel to Japan, Israel, Europe, Turkey, Russia, Peru, Mexico, and other destinations. Toronto was their top choice for a church mission and they spent 18 months as a senior missionary couple in the Canada Toronto West Mission ending in May 2007.

DeLene was a friend to many. She had a natural way of putting people at ease with her unique blend of wit and compassion. She called friends and relatives often, just to see how they were doing, and was generous with invitations to Sunday dinners. She wrote many letters to family with updates on the daily doings of life, and eventually replaced pen, paper, and stamps with emails, which she used extensively to keep in touch with family and friends.

DeLene and her family spent over 30 years in Massachusetts, primarily in Oxford, where she made many cherished friends and memories. When a church-housed family history center was established in Worcester, DeLene was asked to be the director. She loved that time of her life. Besides designing remarkable gardens, she designed an energy-efficient home, and oversaw the home’s construction by students from Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School. As an active participant in community affairs, she frequently expressed her views at town hall meetings in Oxford. During those years, she considered herself a true New Englander, and loved the history and beauty of those six states, never missing an opportunity to drive through New Hampshire and Vermont when the leaves began to turn yellow and orange. A connoisseur of homemade ice cream, she and her family enjoyed Dresser Hill's Ice Cream, in Charlton, Massachusetts, often as a treat for Monday night family home evenings. When DeLene and Jay moved to Provo in 2003, BYU Creamery Ice Cream became a close replacement.

DeLene is preceded in death by her parents, John W. Clark and Ruth Giddings Peterson, and by her husband of 59 years, Jay Mack Holbrook. She leaves behind her children: Jalene Holbrook McDonald, Lanae Holbrook, Marinda Holbrook Crowder (Sterling), and Danelle Holbrook Brown (Phil); along with 14 grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her brothers, Lee Clark (Vicki), Lynn Clark (Kathy), and David Clark (Darleen), as well as numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and many friends. She also leaves behind her supportive sisters-in-law: Susan Holbrook Bergeman (Jerry), Sheila Holbrook Mason (Rich), and Colleen Holbrook.

The family expresses their love and utmost gratitude to the Beehive Homes of Provo, along with Sam Eyre and his staff, for their specialization in memory loss and for compassionately caring for patients through the cognitive decline process.

Funeral services will be held on Sunday, January 7, at the Berg Drawing Room Chapel, located at 185 E Center St, Provo, Utah, at 2:00 p.m. with an informal viewing during the first 30 minutes. Interment will be the following day, Monday, January 8, at 11:00 a.m. at the Provo City Cemetery, 610 S State St, Provo, UT 84606.

Condolences may be expressed at www.bergmortuary.com. While not necessary, in lieu of flowers, please consider doing something nice for someone.