Marlene would sometimes dress up as a clown even at work as an accountant. Marlene Wild is shown here clowning around with a new friend she met at a nursing home while touring Germany, Berlin and Auschwitz. Local Woman Shares Stories Of Clown Ministry Before Dying Family Expresses Appreciation Of Hospice By Fawn Roark Marlene Wild has had a lot of fun being a clown, literally, and two weeks ago she shared her story of clowning throughout the years from Auschwitz to Berlin. She was with one of the first groups to go behind the Iron Curtain and traveled overseas to minister to people in need as a clown. Wild passed away Wednesday, March 15th and was a High Country Health Care System/Hospice patient. The Mountain Times spoke with Wild recently at her home with Hospice Bereavement Coordinator Lisa Courtney. Wild shared many of her clown stories and her love of helping others as well as showing her positive attitude toward life. Wild’s clown name is Ima Some and her motto is “Bloom where you’re planted”. “I’m a some, you’re a some, she’s a some, we’re all somebody in Christ,” Wild said smiling.” I did that for about 20 years. I loved clowning. I just saw it and it clicked with me.” She learned about clowning while she was still living in Florida and fell in love with the joy it brings. “It’s amazing what the clown ministry is and does. It really is. I wanted to be a clown and do that and it was great. For a long time I felt like it was me against the world, but I finally met up with some people in a different church doing it when I lived in Florida,” Wild said. “Then the word kinda got out about what I did and people started calling. I don’t do pie in the face clowns – what I do hits people where they live. It really does. I did clowning alone for a while in Orlando. I worked in a home for abused kids and in a treatment center. I would put on skits for the kids and do shows.” Wild’s daughter, Karen Wolford, said she was so appreciative of Hospice and how they helped her mom and the whole family. “They have been there for my mom and they were there for my dad when we were in Florida. Yesterday, one of the ladies stayed with me because they didn’t want to leave. I don’t know how they do what they do because they love their people and they get really attached before losing them. They are angels on earth to be able to do that,” Wolford explained. “They are really special people. The people they work with usually have six months or less to live and they are just always right on top of everything. I work and we had a problem at first with communication, but we started making a journal and they took care of that right away. They kept me up to date on her condition and what was going on at all times. They were a liason between us, mom and the doctor and just kept us all going,” she added. Hospice works to make the remaining life of dying individuals as comfortable as possible at home by controlling the symptoms of the disease. Hospice neither hastens death nor prolongs life, according to the organizations brochure. Nurses, family coordinators, physicians, volunteers, clergy and nurse aides make up the High Country Health Care System/Hospice team and visit the home while providing support for the family and patient. “They send people to see if the kids needed anything and they made sure to do what was important for the family and the individual. Mom really looked forward to them coming. I was able to continue with work instead of taking a leave of absence because I knew mom was safe with them. Hospice really made it less stressful for mom and the family. I was able to keep working so I could feed my three kids. They just continuously cared for mom and for all of us,” Wolford said. Wild was invited to go to Germany with a group of clowns who traveled together witnessing God’s love through clowning. She decided to go on the trip and went in the 80s. “I’ve had lots of clown days. I think I was born to do it and my daughter said it was the inner me trying to get out. I’ve clowned in Frankfurt, Germany behind the Iron Curtain. I’ve clowned in Europe, Berlin and in Poland - even at the death camps in Auschwitz. I went with a group of the first people to get in. I really thought it was a neat thing for people behind the Iron Curtain to see a group of clowns so I signed up,” she explained. Wild went with the Life in Christ Circus Clowns, which was part of various church groups. While overseas, Wild and the other clowns often did shows and skits in schools, nursing homes and in the streets. “We had appointments to where we were going. We went shopping in West Berlin and toured different churches, nursing homes and different places. We played with people and met so many different people. I just loved it – it sure was fun.” The group learned that they could not visit the Holocaust site as clowns, which was a new revelation to them. Wild said the people in the concentration camps were forced to dress up as clowns and were treated horribly. “We did not know that clowns were not acceptable in Jewish country.” “The most memorable part of the trip for me was the death camps. We were some of the first people to ever get in there. People may say it’s not true and it didn’t happen, but it did. I’ve been there and it is something I will never forget,” Wild said quietly. One trip of her own was taken to California after the Rodney King attacks occurred. Her sister was a teacher there and told her of the problems the kids were having in the schools. “I went out to the inner city schools in LA and worked with the kids. A lot of the kids were very upset and scared. I went in one class and sat down beside a kid who they said had not spoken or laughed or anything,” Wild explained. “He didn’t speak English, but I sat down next to him in his seat and would just sit and play. I never said a word to him, but finally I got through. They said they had never seen any expression out of him for all six months he had been there until that day.” Wild was an accountant, but sometimes she had her days of clown fun at the office. “Sometimes I would go to work as a clown. I would go and make a deposit, but of course I would let them know I was coming so as not to panic everybody. I had a great time with it.”