Emily Joanna Clarke

Emily Joanna Clarke

November 4, 2001 - February 9, 2023

Gone before her are her Mom, Lisa Marie Tanner, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Those who mourn her passing are her father, Chesley Clarke, sister Natasha Tanner, brothers Liam Clarke and Connor Dellaire, along with other maternal / paternal relatives, foster families and dear Friends.

Emily was inquisitive and actively participated in social media. 

She loved food with chocolate chip banana bread, quesadillas and pasta dishes among her favourites.

Emily being a natural athlete often won local competitions from an early age. She enjoyed music, music videos, choreography and karaoke.

Emily had a growing extended family in Kitchener, Ontario where she called home. She joined in many activities and programs in the Indigenous community. 

The Gi Zhawenimin plan a sacred fire and travel ceremony in her honour on Thursday, February 23, 2023 at the University of Waterloo.

Beautiful Emily, we love you and you will be missed 'as long as the moon glows and the stars shine.'

Vi  and Natasha

This Thursday, we will have a travel ceremony for Emily at the Sacred Fire Grounds at the University of Waterloo.  The fire will be started by our Fire Keeper at 5:30pm.  

Here is what I have so far from her friends and auntie, including some of my memories.  

From Heather

Emily's smile lit up a room.  She was carefree and fun to be around.  Always had a variety of conversations on the go and was famous for her late night texts and posts.  Simple things like viewing the stars, from the rooftop at times, sharing a meal with friends or helping someone else with quiet love and concern to bigger  dreams of getting her GED then certified as a nail technician.  Culture was important to her and she sang with gusto!  Her sense of fashion was amazing and she often transformed her looks with different hair styles, colors and makeup!

She got a kick out of the turmeric popcorn situation at the hospital one time.which then became a running joke,   the homemade treats she coveted ( all mine!!!) Emily was interested in learning more culinary skills and wanted ro reclaim her culture.  When her mom passed she really felt the strong need to smudge using sweetgrass and sage.  She looked forward to making her own drum and adding her creativity to it.  

She had a way of loving and caring about you that you felt eminating from her.

Her energy was contagious! Her laugh was catchy and you couldn't help laugh too!

She still had a love for teddy bears and liked watching movies.  

From Lesli Bartlett

Gi Zhawenimin 

Community Auntie

Hi Heather I think quesadillas and fettuccine or pasta were her favourite. I  remember her telling me she liked anything that was pasta. I know I had wanted to make her fry bread but I am not sure I did. But honestly she was always so happy when I would bring her food. The memories I cherish are of her beautiful smile . And not sure how to put into words but how she would just make you feel like she was always so glad to see you. She wouldn't ask for stuff really but seemed genuinely happy when people brought her something. I forgot that my mom knew Emily as well.  She delivered food sometimes and  chatted with her. 

From Alyssa Robertson

Met Emily in grade.6

A very special memory I have of her is when one of my other friends passed in a tragic accident and she came with me and my mom to his funeral, she was by my side the whole time and comforted me. The best part was my nose was running (really gross) and she let me use to cardigan she was wearing to blow my nose ������❤️ it was gross but she didn't care she just laughed it off and held me through it

She also LOVED to take my clothes, she would always want to wear them, that one picture i sent of just her wearing the striped shirt is mine lol 

My favourite memory was setting up the Christmas tree together, she never felt quite at home when in foster care and putting up the tree with just let up her world she was so happy

This probably isn't the greatest story but I laugh everytime it gets brought up but she wanted to sit outside on my roof so she broke open (kinda accidentally) my window screen so we could watch the stars outside my bedroom

She was very adventurous ������ although my mom wasn't too impressed lol but we never put the screen back

Favorite food?  Anything my mom cooked! My mom LOVES cooking and she was obsessed with all the food in our house! ������ her foster home mainly made food from their culture so it was a nice change for her lol

(I have a few pictures, a video of us and a collage she made for me for my birthday of pictures. I also have lots of stories ❤️)

 I'm absolutely devastated. I met her in grade 6, we found out she was in foster care and my family helped her she stayed at my place the majority of the time spent Christmases with us etc we did everything together

From Gillian

We were really close for a long time. Her and I lived as sisters for a while.

From MIMI

Hi Heather, here are a few words in honour of Emily. Thank you.

" My name is Mimi, and my husband Marshall and I are part of the support group for indigenous youth in Kitchener, Ontario. I first heard about Emily from Lesli. She described Emily as a really sweet individual. Emily and I have been trying to connect over coffee for the past year or so, but it never happened. However, I did get to have a long conversation with Emily in January this year. She shared a lot about her life, interests, challenges, and how she aspired to get ahead in her life. She spoke about her mother, who had recently passed and how she wanted to burn some sweet grass as she had felt her mother’s presence very palpably that day. We talked about how we are always connected with our loved ones, even through death. We talked about continuity of life and so many other topics that day. I was impressed by her depth, wisdom, and honesty for a person so young and how she took responsibility for everything she went through in her life.  I complimented her about how nice it was to talk to her and how nice it was to connect and chat! Emily told me how everyone who meets her always compliments her about her upfront and honest nature.  

Even though I did not meet her in person, she felt familiar, like an old friend…I was very sad when Heather informed me of Emily's passing...at the same time, now, I also feel hope for her as her eternal journey is never over as she continues on… Perhaps now is her time to renew, rejuvenate and then start anew on fulfilling her dreams and be happy and healthy all over again...

Our love and prayers for Emily and all her loved ones...

Here is a Mantra of Peace in the Sanskrit language (the Shanti Mantra) from the Upanishads of the ancient Hindu philosophy that I belong to. I would like to offer this prayer for Emily, her loved ones, and for all of us:

From ignorance, lead me to truth (asato mā sadgamaya)

From darkness, lead me to light (tamasomā jyotir gamaya)

From death, lead me to immortality (mrityormāamritam gamaya)

Om peace, peace, peace (Oṁ śhānti śhānti śhāntiḥ)

Thank you very much"

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