Darlene Clark is a native Houstonian and retired from AT&T/Southwestern Bell following a 30-year career. She received a Bachelor of Science in Business Technology from the University of Houston.
Darlene is an active volunteer in her retirement focusing on music and helping underserved Houstonians. She is a past President of the Houston Symphony League and chaired the Ima Hogg Music Competition in 2011 and was in the process of chairing it again in 2020, when the pandemic canceled the competition. She was recognized as the Ellen Kelley Volunteer of the Year for the Symphony League in 2015 and the Ardyce Tostengard Crystal Cello Award in 2014. She has served on the Symphony’s Wine Dinner and Collector's Auction Committee for many years. She particularly enjoys working with children, having escorted hundreds of schoolchildren into and out of Jones Hall for Student Concerts. She also enjoys working at the Instrument Petting Zoo where she teaches children how to make a sound on orchestral instruments.
She chaired the Reflections on Style Luncheon for the Salvation Army Women’s Auxiliary, raising more than $900,000 in 2019 for Salvation Army projects. She served on the Grant Committee which worked with local Salvation Army locations to provide funding to send underserved children to summer camps, cheerleading classes, music lessons, and provided Christmas toys to underserved area children.
She is the President of the Moores Society of the Moores School of Music at the University of Houston. She enjoys raising money for music scholarships to worthy students.
Recently, she was invited onto the Boards of the Texas Association for Symphony Orchestras, the League of American Orchestras Volunteer Council, and Third Space Music, a chamber music and charitable organization of Houston Symphony musicians.
She was recently named one of the CKW Luxe Top 20 Impact Makers for 2022.
She is an active flutist and piccoloist and has been a member of the Gulf Coast Concert Band since 1983. She has performed at Miller Outdoor Theater, the Battleship Texas, and on the Jones Hall stage. She currently takes lessons from the pianist and piccoloist with the Houston Symphony.
She is married to Edwin Friedrichs, Civil Engineer, and they have two children: Austen Friedrichs (Allison), and Lauren Pendleton (Will). They have three grandchildren, Lila Marie and Weber Gainey Pendleton and Emma Friedrichs, and one more Pendleton on the way.