Jessica (Clark) St. John

Jessica Clark St. John passed away in her home on January 24, 2024, surrounded by her family.

She was born September 14, 1944, to Frank J and Melba Clark in Great Falls, Montana, while her father was in the Navy overseas and her mother was staying with her parents. In 1949, when she was 4 years old, her dad completed their new house on Curtis Avenue and they moved in. She said it was wonderful to have a bathroom and running water.

She spent her first years in Idaho Falls, Idaho, attending Hawthorne Elementary. In 1950, her dad needed to move around for his construction job, so they rented their house out, bought a 23' trailer and they all went together. They lived in Dugway, Utah; Tooele, Utah; Twin Falls, Idaho; then Great Falls, Montana. She loved moving around. She said it was like starting over every time they moved. She remembered her and her brother would go from trailer to trailer knocking on doors looking for children to play with. In 1953, they moved back to Idaho Falls permanently. She completed grade school at Hawthorne Elementary. Grades 7 through 9 were split between the old Central High School and O.E. Bell Junior High. She attended high school at Idaho Falls High School and graduated in 1962.

The summer before graduation she met Larry St. John. They dated all that final year of school and were married on July 12, 1962. Their first son, Ted Ray, was born in 1963. Shortly after that they bought their first house on Susanne. Then came their second son, Brian Frank, born in 1966, and a third son, Scott Dee, born 1968. They were outgrowing the little house on Susanne and were lucky enough to buy a bigger house on 16th Street. It seemed so large. She remembered panicking because she lost Scott just to find him in the shower in the master bath. Along came son number four, Lane Christian, in 1969, and then son number five, Kert Lynn in 1972.

They had some very good times raising their sons, even though it wasn't always smooth sailing. They would spend many vacations at her parents’ cabin in Island Park where the boys could ride motorcycles, fish, travel to historic sites, and just spend a lot of time outside playing. In the winters, they would have snowmobiles to ride and everyone enjoyed doing that. One year they even got the boys a small snow machine called a pocket rocket. They spent a lot of time with her brother, sister, and parents at the cabin.

As the boys got older, she did part-time cleaning work for her father's company, Clark Brothers Construction, and had a good time working with friends and family. When her father retired from his construction company, Jessica, along with her father, Frank Clark, her brother, Norris Clark, and her sister, Susan Clark, started a construction company. She learned a lot, but decided construction wasn't for her, and after 2 years, she quit and went to work for Roche Moving and Storage as an office manager where she worked for 10 years. After that, she went to work for Century 21 Greater LandCo Realty for 10 years until she turned 62 and retired. Retirement wasn't what she expected so she went to work part time for Thrifty Nickel for a few years, and actually her husband, Larry, suggested that job. It seemed her retirement wasn't what he expected either.

When the boys grew up, Larry and Jessica enjoyed traveling and spending time with friends in Yuma Arizona. They particularly enjoyed their time with their friends, Harold and Norma Foster. They also loved spending time with their sons in California, Lane, his wife, Annette, and Ted. She was very lucky to have great parents, and as they got older and needed more help, she tried to spend as much time with them as possible. Her mother passed away in September of 2015 and her dad followed in November of 2015.

They continued traveling and enjoying their time together. They spent two summers helping their son, Scott, and his wife, Melissa, run their nursery in Paris, Idaho. In 2020, Larry was diagnosed with a return of prostate cancer, he has successfully received treatment, but their traveling days were over. She spent her final years enjoying her family, friends, and flowers.

She is survived by her husband, her sister, 5 children, 7 grandchildren, and 8 great grandchildren.