[4] After high school, she attended Selma University and received training in classical music and choral singing.

She moved to Detroit in 1947 to be with her sister Sybil Burke and became a member of Greater Love Tabernacle Church of God in Christ.

They formed a 1,000 voice choir and had legendary gospel singer, Reverend James Cleveland come in as a special guest.

The first Gospel Music Workshop of America (GMWA)[7] convention took place in August 1968 at the King Solomon Baptist Church in Detroit.

The idea was to perpetuate the legacy and appreciation of gospel music through classes and provide an opportunity to expose new talent.

In 1979, she founded the Clark Conservatory of Music in Detroit, which established itself as one of the most prestigious schools of its kind in the country.

After their divorce, she married Elder Elbert Clark (1927-2001) on November 30, 1952, and had four children, Denise Darchell, Elbernita Dionne, Dorinda Grace, and Karen Valencia.

Despite failing health, Clark continued to record music into the last year of her life before succumbing to complications from diabetes on September 22, 1994, at Providence Hospital in Southfield, Michigan, at age 69.