Activist Dorothy Gershenson Clock, 56, Is Dead After Lengthy Illness
Dorothy Gershenson Clock, a community activist and resident of Newport Beach since 1962, died at Hoag Memorial Hospital Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer.
Clock, known as “Dot” by her friends, was 56.
“The phone rings about every five minutes,” her daughter, Elizabeth Clock Johnstone, 28, said Wednesday. “My mom had the ability to make anyone laugh. Every person she ever met remembered her; she was a very special lady.”
One of the founders of New Directions for Women, a halfway house for recovering alcoholic women, Clock also was active in the Junior League, South Coast Repertory Theatre, Angelitos de Oro and the National Charity League.
In addition to her daughter, she is survived by her husband, Ralph Clock; a son, David R. Clock of Newport Beach; her parents, Harry and Dorothy Gershenson of St. Louis; and a brother, Harry Gershenson, also of St. Louis.
Funeral services are scheduled for 1 p.m. Friday at St. James Episcopal Church, 3209 Via Lido, in Newport Beach.
The family requests that, in lieu of flowers, memorial gifts be sent to the Dot Clock Memorial Fund, New Directions for Women Inc., 2601 Willo Lane, Costa Mesa, Calif. 92627.
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