ROCHESTER: Katherine (Leitch) Clark passed away April 3 rd , 2024, at the age of 59, after a short battle with cancer.
She is survived by her husband, Paul Clark, and daughter Elizabeth Clark; mother, Joan Dupont, and father William (Marsha) Leitch; and brothers Christopher (Kat) Dupont and Mark (Rachel) Goebert. She is also survived by her aunt Wendy (Richard) Verstringhe and cousins Kimberly (Eric) Jones, and Leslie Verstringhe.
Kate graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology and was employed there for over 40 years; at the time of her death she was the Executive Director of Sponsored Research Services. Kate had a major role in developing the major processes, procedures, and support services that allowed RIT to make the transition from a regional undergraduate teaching-focused institution to a national research university. While technically she did serve as the Executive Director of Sponsored Research Services at RIT, this realistically only captured a small part of what she provided the university. Her steel trap memory coupled with an unnatural ability to almost instantly understand vast state and federal regulations made her the “go to” person for so many people across the entire university. No wonder that she was affectionately nicknamed “The Oracle” throughout the RIT community. While her sound advice and guidance was invaluable to so many people who came to rely upon her, the most amazing impact she had at RIT was on the personal level. Everyone loved Kate, and this is not hyperbole. Even those who disagreed with her were won over by her warmth, wit, and wisdom, and by the fact that she was almost always right. She maintained a bottomless candy bowl for visitors and was a font of helpful advice on just about everything one could imagine. She had an essence of caring and a remarkable sense of humor which allowed her to connect with people in a way that is too often a rarity in the work place. Of the many great things she did for the institution, that will be missed the most.
Outside of work, she found joy in traveling, gardening, puzzles, knitting, and spending time with her cats. She was a long-time gamer, Lego-builder, and fan of anything Tolkien. She was lucky enough to take a trip with her husband to eight national parks just before her diagnosis. Fittingly, her very last trip was to San Diego; Crystal Pier being her favorite place to be.
A Celebration of Kate’s Life will be held from 3:00 to 4:30 pm, Friday, August 30, in the Skalny Room, SMT-A500, Schmitt Interfaith Center on the RIT campus.
Kate has requested that memorial donations be made to Keller’s Kats Rescue, Inc. P.O. Box 26472, Rochester, NY 14626