Heidi Schultz died on May 21. She was 94 and had been the former longtime town clerk in West Tisbury.

She was born on Jan. 14, 1927, the daughter of Hans T. Clarke and Frieda Planck. The youngest of four children, she grew up in a household of music and science. She spent her early years in Riverdale, N.Y. and attended Riverdale Country Day School. Living in the family’s summer home in Scotland, Conn., she developed a lifelong love of animals. She graduated from Mount Holyoke College in 1948.

She married Frederic M. Richards in 1948 after they courted while working at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. They had two children, Sarah and Ruth. The family lived in Denmark and England while Fred did post-doctoral research. After they divorced in 1956, Heidi moved to West Tisbury, where she spent most of the rest of her life.

She raised her daughters on her own. In the early days, she worked part time at the Up-Island Garage and then later for Louise Tate King at her North Tisbury restaurant. In 1974 she was elected West Tisbury town clerk and held the office for 21 years, retiring in 1995.

Through it all, her love of all things musical continued. Tiger Haynes, Betty Guillard, Emily Rose and Heidi sang in an informal group that gave them all great joy. She joined the Vineyard Sinfonietta as a cellist under the direction of Hamilton Benz. She was devoted to the Sinfonietta’s mission, playing for groups small and large, organizing sheet music and administering the rehearsal and performance schedule. She arranged and composed several pieces over the years, including one based on Town Musicians of Bremen, a Brothers Grimm story, In the 1960s she hosted numerous musicals in her home with West Tisbury luminaries including Jack and Barbara Scannell, Gale Huntington, Ernie Corellus and Mike Athearn.

She moved the family to Falmouth for winters during her daughters’ high school years. In addition to working at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and singing in a madrigal group, she became involved with the Highfield Theater Company. There she met Ronnee Lyle Schultz, whom she married in 1971. They had many happy times camping in Maine and sailing their catboat in the Vineyard Sound.

Heidi was politically active. She held a public office, worked on Eugene McCarthy’s campaign and was active with anti-war efforts during the Vietnam War era. She was well known to the Vineyard Gazette as a letter writer.

She was an artist/craftsperson, devoting herself to making wall art, knitted blankets and needlepoint pillows.

She is survived by her daughters Sarah Richards and Ruth Richards; grandson Benjamin Lillie; stepson Jason Schultz; and several step-grandchildren, nieces, and nephews.

The family has created a website, https://heidiclarkeschultz.wordpress.com, in her memory. All are welcome to submit stories about her life.

Contributions can be made to Earth Justice, 50 California street. Ste. 500, San Francisco CA 94111 and earthjustice.org.