The Martha's Vineyard Times
Our musical, funny, and complex mother died on May 21, 2021. She first made sure that her two daughters supported her decision and then, relieved from her pain, she left us to join the rest of her family, who had predeceased her.
Heidi was born to Hans T. Clarke and Frieda Planck January 14, 1927. She was the youngest of four children, and grew up in a household of music and science. She spent her early years in Riverdale, N.Y., and attended the Riverdale Country Day School. Living in the family’s summer home in Scotland, Conn., she developed a lifelong love of animals. She attended Mount Holyoke College, graduating in 1948. She then married Frederic M. Richards in 1948, after they had courted while working at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. They had two children, Sarah and Ruth. During the next few years, the family lived in Denmark and England while Fred did research in his postdoctoral assignments. After moving to New Haven, Conn., the couple divorced in 1956. Heidi moved to West Tisbury, where she spent most of the rest of her life.