Shared grief turns friends into a family

Art Clemente, 85, Lisa James, 39, and her daughter, Sierra, 7, formed a family in Lynnwood.

They were friends for years before the burden of grief led them under the same roof.

James’ son Seth, 15, fell through ice and drowned in Lynnwood’s Martha Lake in January 2007.

Art and his wife, Margie, joined in the frantic effort to save the boy.

Margie Clemente and Lisa James became closer friends, sharing a sad bond. Margie Clemente’s son died in Hawaii in 1980.

Lisa James found comfort at the Clementes’ waterfront home. She learned about facing the death of a child through Margie’s warm guidance.

“The lake is a special place,” she said. “You just go on.”

Margie Clemente was always there for her with hugs.

“Margie always said to put cold cream on your elbows,” James said. “Meaning always treat yourself well.”

Margie and Art Clemente met when both had children. She dreamed of starting a women’s alcohol and chemical dependency treatment program. She found a location in Juanita, organized fundraisers and hired a staff. Residence XII opened with six residents in 1981 in Kirkland.

The center supported more than 20,000 women through the decades, Art said.

“The number of people she helped astonished me,” he said about his wife. “She was able to assist literally thousands of troubled people in finding hope and joy.”

She was the first executive director of the program. She kept her nursing license current, served many agencies and received an award from the Washington State Coalition of Women’s Substance Abuse Issues.

She supported her husband when he located a World War II buddy in Lynnwood. I wrote several stories, starting in 1998, about Art Clemente and Andrew Kovach. Kovach was Clemente’s gunnery sergeant, who kept him alive on the battlefield. Both Marines watched the U.S. flag raised on Iwo Jima.

Years later, Kovach lived in a tiny Lynnwood motel room. Bad health kept him from leaving. Art Clemente brought him groceries and saw to his medical needs. They always talked about the old days.

You don’t get many chances in life to pay someone back, he told me.

Clemente and I stayed friends after Kovach died in 2003. I learned about his help in the efforts to save Seth in 2007. I knew he was devastated when Margie died Jan. 29, 2010.

It’s good to know friends help one another on Martha Lake. James rents the upstairs quarters of Clemente’s home. She cooks him dinner a few times a week. He spends time with Sierra, asking what she did in school. Sierra draws pictures for him, which he hangs on the wall.

The new family loves and remembers Margie, a nurse, volunteer and executive, who brought them together.

“She was massively modest,” Clemente said. “She was a total love.”

For James, Margie and Art were her strength.

Kristi O’Harran: 425-339-3451, oharran@heraldnet.com