DANA POINT : Loving Tops Grandma’s to-Do List

Nell Clark might work 16 hours a day at a local department store and a restaurant, but she still finds plenty of time for hugs and other important activities with her grandchildren.

It’s that dedication to her family that recently earned Clark the title of Outstanding Grandmother of the Year in a competition sponsored by South County Senior Services, the Capistrano Unified School District and Health Net Senior Plus.

Cambria Rodgers, Clark’s 8-year-old granddaughter, doesn’t hesitate when asked what makes her “ma-ma” so special. “She helps me with my homework every night and we cuddle on the couch,” the youngster said.

“That cuddling gets in there all the time,” Clark added, giving her granddaughter a hug. “She’s definitely a cuddler.”

Clark, 55, who has two grown children, was among 22 grandmothers nominated for the award through essays written by elementary school students in the Capistrano Unified School District.

Magdalena Lavayen of Laguna Niguel was named the runner-up, while Mary Lehnhart of Mission Viejo, Jeanne Saleen of San Clemente, and Bernadine Scholl of Rancho Santa Margarita were named finalists in the competition.

In her essay, Cambria, a second-grader at Del Obispo Elementary School in San Juan Capistrano, wrote about the important influence her grandmother has in her life.

“My grandmother thinks school is very important,” she wrote. “She wants me to grow up and be healthy and smart so I can be anything I want to be in life to make me happy.”

Maurice Hansen of South County Senior Services said all the finalists were selected because of their commitment to the education and future of their grandchildren.

“It’s just a matter of values,” Hansen said. “The most significant asset we have in the United States is our seniors. . . . These seniors have made a difference.”

When it came time to read the essays of the children and select the finalists, “there wasn’t a dry eye around the room,” he said. “There were some real tear-jerkers in there. All 22 of them were absolute champions.”

Hansen said, however, that the judges were especially impressed with Clark because she has found so much time to spend with her grandchildren despite two full-time jobs she has held for 16 years. Clark has lived in Dana Point 23 years.

Lately, Cambria and her mother, Kimberly, who is recovering from major surgery, have even been living with Clark. Meanwhile, Clark’s son John and daughter-in-law Karina live nearby in San Juan Capistrano with 3-year-old Brittney, and they have another child on the way. A stepson, Tim, also has two young girls.

Clark, a native of Indiana whose own grandparents died when she was very young, said she is only too happy to spend time with her grandchildren and help with baby-sitting on her days off.

For now, Clark said she is happy to keep her jobs, one as a merchandising clerk at J.C. Penney in Laguna Hills and the other as a waitress at the Beef Cut Restaurant in San Clemente.

“That’s the way my family is,” she said, adding that her brother and two sisters work two jobs as well. “I can’t quite visualize myself being retired. I don’t know what I’d do.”

Clark will soon be taking off a little more time to take Cambria on an all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C.--her reward for being named Outstanding Grandmother of the Year.