During the awards ceremony on Quilt Day at the Ohio State Fair, Army National Guard veteran Rebecca Clark was presented with a Veteran Honor Quilt in recognition of her service to our country. Sewn by 4-H members and volunteers at the 2025 Ohio 4-H Conference in March, the quilt serves as a symbol of gratitude and remembrance for those touched by war.
Clark joined the Ohio Army National Guard in June of 2001, serving eight years as an enlisted officer and then an additional twelve years as an Army Nurse Corp 
officer. She retired with the rank of Major after twenty years of service.
She completed basic training at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri and medical training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Clark was deployed to Iraq for fourteen months through 2004. She also participated in a humanitarian mission in Panama and assisted with relief efforts for hurricanes Katrina and Gustav.
Additionally, Clark served as a State Casualty Assistance and Notification Officer. This led to her involvement in the Ohio Western Reserve National Cemetery and her efforts to cofound the Ohio Western Reserve Ladies, an organization whose mission is to support families of those interred at the cemetery and ensure that “No veteran is buried alone.”
Clark also works closely with the Northeast Ohio Foundation for Patriotism (NEOPAT). As a part
of their veteran’s outreach programs, she focuses on providing support for women veterans and women of Gold Star families.
She is currently a pediatric intensive care nurse manager at Akron Children’s Hospital and teaches master’s level nursing classes at Northern Kentucky University. She is married to Kevin, a fellow veteran with twenty-four years of service, and together they have an eleven-year-old daughter, Lily.
Clark was nominated for this honor by Theresa Ferrari, Extension specialist for 4-H Healthy Living and Ohio Military Kids programming, who said, “Becky has been supporting Ohio Military Kids (OMK) camps since 2009. As a nurse with the Ohio Army National Guard Medical Detachment, she served on orders as a camp nurse. Her promotion to 2nd Lieutenant actually occurred on the beach at Kelleys Island during the 2009 camp, and her subsequent promotion to 1st Lieutenant 
also occurred at camp.
“In addition to the camps on Kelleys Island, she has served as a nurse at military teen adventure camps and during weekend family camps,” said Ferrari. “Since her retirement from the military, Becky continues to return to camp as a volunteer. Like the military, camp is a family and the bonds are strong.”
While Clark first learned about 4-H through her involvement with OMK camps, she has since become an active 4-H volunteer and parent. Her daughter, Lily, is a 4-H member in Medina County, where she raises chickens and hogs, and Clark serves as co-advisor for her Lily’s 4-H club, the Buckeye Bunch.