Kathryn Clarke Varnell, 93

FEB. 6, 2016

Kathryn Clarke Varnell, 93, of Riddle Village, Media, PA and formerly of Warwick Township in Chester County, passed away on February 6, 2016 in hospice care at Riddle Village.

In 1942, she married Nelson Clarke, a second lieutenant in the United States Calvary. In 1950, they moved to Mill Pond Farm, a 200-yearold farm just west of the village of Knauertown. There, she helped start a PTA and became its president. She helped start a Girl Scout troop. She served six years on the Owen J. Roberts School Board and established a wrestling teamas a second winter sport.

Later, she helped write the Warwick Township zoning laws, served on the zoning board for nine years, and also served as President of the Warwick Township Planning Commission.

Widowed at 47, she married O.P. Varnell, a retired railroad executive, in 1971. In 1984, they moved to Hershey’s Mill, an active adult development community in West Chester and in 1994, to Riddle Village, a retirement community in Media.

She was an avid miniaturist and a member of the West Chester Miniature Club, who built award-winning dollhouses and rooms, including one that won Best of Show in Miniatures at the Philadelphia Flower Show in 1984.

She is survived by a son, John Clarke, of Wynnewood, PA; two daughters, Joanne Guzzi of Newton, MA, and Marianne Clarke of Hershey, PA; 12 grandchildren, and 18 greatgrandchildren. Her son James Clarke, of Gilbertsville, died in 2007, and her second husband died in 2013 at the age of 100.

A celebration of her life will be held on Sunday, March 13 from 1-3 p.m. in the TownHall in Riddle Village.

Memorial donations would be welcome for the Riddle Village Capital Fund, c/o Riddle Village, 1048W Baltimore Pike, Media, PA 19063.