Bethine Clark Church

Jean Bethine Clark Church (February 19, 1923 – December 21, 2013), was the spouse of U.S. Senator Frank Church of Idaho. As politically active as her husband, she earned the nickname of "Idaho's third senator."

Early life and education Born in Mackay, Idaho, to Jean Elizabeth Burnett and Chase A. Clark, Bethine Clark's family was prominent in Idaho politics during the first half of the 20th century. Her grandfather Joseph was elected the first mayor of Idaho Falls in 1900.

Chase Clark and Bethine's uncle, Barzilla Clark, both served as mayor of Idaho Falls and were both elected Governor of Idaho for a two-year term, Chase Clark serving from 1941 to 1943. After losing his 1942 reelection bid, Chase Clark was appointed to the U.S. District Court for the District of Idaho by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Bethine Clark's cousin D. Worth Clark represented Idaho in Washington as a member of the U.S. House and later the U.S. Senate. After returning from military service, he returned to Stanford and proposed marriage to Clark; the couple announced their engagement in December 1946. On June 21, 1947, they were married at the Clark family ranch, Robinson Bar Ranch , located east of Stanley. (The ranch was later owned by singer Carole King.)

Frank completed his bachelor's degree in political science at Stanford in 1947 and enrolled at Harvard Law School that September, but was forced to withdraw and transfer to Stanford after being diagnosed with cancer. While he was undergoing cancer treatments, the couple welcomed their first child Frank Forrester IV in 1948 on September 23. At age 32 in 1956, Frank ran for the U.S. Senate and beat first-term incumbent Herman Welker of Payette. The following year the family moved to Washington, D.C. and adopted a son and named him Chase Clark Church. Frank Church served four terms in the Senate but was defeated for reelection in 1980 by Steve Symms. Early in 1984, Church was diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer and he died on April 7 at age 59. Church knew she didn't fit into the classic mold for a politician's wife: "I have often described my life in Washington as like Cinderella's—I was either cleaning the fireplace or going to the ball."