Elizabeth Harper
Camille and I were in Home Economics together at PHS. Not sure how that happened
Site Author
June 20, 2021
In Memoriam
Camille Clarke Reynolds, a native of Dade City, Florida, passed away peacefully on May 15, 2021, of heart failure. She was preceded in death by her parents, Webb Charles Clarke and Royce June, and is survived by her four loving children: daughter Lisa Reynolds Edgar, of Houston, Texas (Peter), daughter Amantha “Amy,” of Dade City (granddaughter Ella); son Charles, of Dade City (grandson Dylan); and daughter Larkin, of Denver, Colorado.
Camille grew up in Dade City with brothers Webb “Skipper” and Gloyd Clarke, and was a much-loved member of the Pasco High School Class of 1965. She was voted both homecoming queen in 1964 and “best all ’round” by her graduating classmates, who both appreciated and teased her about her quick smile and sweet disposition.
Not long after graduating from Huntington College in Alabama, Camille began her career as a lifelong educator. In Florida, she taught at Pasco Middle School and later joined the faculty of Zephyrhills High. When she retired in 2012 she’d served in the Pasco County public school system for 35 years, both as a classroom teacher and a self-taught instructional technology specialist in a predominantly male career field. Passionate about certain topics in education policy, whenever one of those topics came up in conversation, Camille wasn’t shy about making her views known.
Among Camille’s greatest loves was the one she had for computers and technology. Her office in the media center was often piled high with paper documents because her focus was on the digital documents in the machines. She genuinely enjoyed helping teachers and students alike discover and use technology in and out of the classroom. “Isn’t that so cool?!” was a frequent refrain.
Animals and Camille were drawn to each other in uncanny ways, from family pets to horses to the songbirds that flocked to her serene backyard. Not infrequently one neighbor’s dog would sneak off from his home and trot over to Camille’s house, where he would patiently wait–sometimes for quite a while!–for her to come outside and give him a treat. Given her impeccable Southern manners, she always obliged.
Apart from shopping the latest Apple products and kitchen gadgets, Camille loved spending time with her grandchildren and encouraging them in their pursuits. She also loved “piddling” around the house or wandering the aisles of a local plant nursery or Lowe’s (often on the hunt for a truly squirrel-proof birdfeeder) and drinking her coffee out of bone china teacups in the quiet hours of the early morning.
In lieu of flowers please consider a memorial donation to the Rucki Hospice Care Center of Gulfside Hospice and Palliative Care (https://www.gulfside.org/care-centers.html).
