Remembering Jessica Clark

Jessica Clark fell victim to the Cookeville tornado this week.

Clark was the city hall receptionist for over six years. City Manager James Mills said she was a dedicated worker.

“We’re brokenhearted, I’m brokenhearted when I first heard the news. It’s crushed the City Hall, she was well liked and well respected,” Mills said. “She had recently been promoted to the tax office and she was super excited about that, I’ve never seen her smile so much. It was a well deserved promotion, she had worked really really hard for us. We’re really going to miss her, it really hasn’t sunk in. I already miss seeing her every day. I know it’s been devastating for her parents and her brother and our thoughts and prayers go out to them, but we want everyone to know that Jessica will be missed. We were so blessed to even get to know her.”

Mills added Clark was a member of the Putnam County fair board.

Clark worked with former vice president David Hunter. Hunter said she was one of the most amazing people to have worked on the board.

“She had a heart of gold, and I’m gonna tell you something when she was your friend, she was your friend,” Hunter said. “She could can canned goods out of a garden like you wouldn’t believe for somebody her age. She was a giving person, she was an incredible person. If you knew Jessica, you had a good friend.”

Clark became vice president of the fair board when Hunter stepped down after working for five years. She received a AAA Division Award within her first year. Hunter admitted she did a better job than he did.

“Jessica’s character, she was kinda witty. If you ever went to city hall, she was a receptionist there. When you walked in you were always got greeted with a big smile. If you ever called her on the phone, I would try to trick her sometimes and call her up and try to disguise my voice but of course with caller ID she knew it was me. She was just a very outgoing person, she truly loved her husband, she loved the fair board, she loved the city of Cookeville that she worked for, and she was just a remarkable, remarkable young lady,” Hunter said.

In addition, Clark owned her own small business.