Neither could have imagined where that would lead. Bill became Governor Reagan’s chief of staff; would be appointed by Reagan to the California Supreme Court; would become President Reagan’s crucial national security adviser; would be President Reagan’s liaison to John Paul II’s Vatican; and more. The Clark-Reagan relationship was the single most important in laying out the plan to take down Soviet communism – a goal the Brauner family would have applauded.
Of course, Joan Brauner Clark was more than a Cold War figure. She was a wonderful mother of five children, and grandmother to even more. Among her and her husband’s numerous charitable works was the construction of a gorgeous mountaintop church in Paso Robles, California, encompassed by a 17th century Spanish ceiling that Joan cleaned herself, tile by tile, with a toothbrush. That chapel celebrated her life in an overflowing funeral Mass on April 25.
Joan Brauner Clark never hesitated to give, even after political bandits had once robbed her of everything. She died with her husband and American family at her side, in the Clark home, surrounded by lots of love – and only a few feet from an old rickety handcart that rests near the entry to the Clark home.