Olive J. (Hanlon) Clark, of Burlington, passed away peacefully on Monday, August 24, 2026. She had lived 90 years.

She was born in Winchester, MA, the oldest of three daughters of the late A. George and Isabella (Graham) Hanlon, Irish immigrants who taught their children the importance of church, family, hard work, and living within your means. Olive was raised in Woburn, and in her final years, she often told the story of her long walk to school. As a teen, she enjoyed music and dancing, was a self-proclaimed good driver and poor student of shorthand, and always remained a dutiful daughter. In 1953, she graduated from Woburn High School. It was during high school that she met her future husband, Gordon “Buddy” Clark. The two were married in the fall of 1956 and moved to Washington, DC. While Buddy served in the army, Olive worked at the historic Riggs National Bank on Pennsylvania Avenue. After Buddy’s army service, the two settled in Burlington and were married 61 years.

Together, Olive and Buddy built an ideal life on Alma Road, where they raised five children. While Buddy worked two jobs, Olive managed the home and a busy family. She balanced the checkbook to the penny and made sure there was enough for birthday parties, a backyard pool, and fees for cheerleading and Pop Warner football. She took pride in living a simple life, attending her children’s games and activities, cooking and sewing, and ending the week with a variety show on TV—Sonny and Cher or Lawrence Welk. Her favorite day of the week was Sunday. She looked forward to Sunday service at the First Congregational Church in Woburn Center, where she served as treasurer.

With the little time she had for herself, Olive enjoyed bowling in a women's league (taking home the “Strike Queen” trophy), playing cards with neighborhood friends, tending flowers in her yard, and spending time with her high school girlfriends, Beverly and Sister. When the youngest of her children reached middle school, she returned to office work at Del Mar Window Coverings and then Graham Radio. With her encouragement, she saw all five of her children go to college.

In retirement, Olive and Buddy, lifelong music fans, traveled to the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, toured the Smoky Mountains, spent time in Venice, FL, and traveled out to the San Francisco area to visit one of their daughters. She enjoyed having her grandchildren around—to them, she was “Grandma”/ “Grammie”—and her big backyard served as the setting for many family gatherings. She wrote caring notes in birthday cards, always with x’s and o’s, and loved hearing about the kids’ many accomplishments. She also loved going to Kimball’s for ice cream on a sunny day and sitting at the picnic tables. Though she was almost always reserved, her children and grandchildren grew to recognize the playful, teasing banter between their grandparents—and her line “Duh, Buddy,” when he did or said something dumb, made everyone laugh. As she aged, she often told her family members, “Don’t get old.”

But she did. And the older she got, the more she reminisced about her childhood and her parents. She would tell us they were expecting her in Woburn. And indeed, they were.

In addition to her parents, Olive’s beloved husband Buddy passed before her.

Olive was the loving mother of Diane Mentas and her husband Theodore of Nashua, NH, Cynthia Tomlinson and her husband Derek of Gilford, NH, Robin Parker and her husband Scott of North Reading, MA, David Clark and his wife Michelle of Conway, NH, and Elizabeth Baglio and her husband Michael of Burlington, MA; the proud grandmother of Kelsey, Christopher, Brienna, Shayna, Karina, Griffin, A.J., Brooke, and Garrett; and the great-grandmother of Lucy. Sister to Maureen Fuller of Pensacola, FL, and the late Joyce Sargent.

A private family service will be held. Condolences to her family may be made at sullivanfuneralhome.net. In lieu of flowers, contributions in her memory may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association (Alzheimer's Association ) or to Tufts Medicine High Pointe Hospice House (tuftsmedicine.org/giving/give-care-home).