C.H. Decker Elementary School

Clarabelle Decker was born Clarabelle Douglas in Bellevue, Colorado on November 3, 1908. She and her family later moved to Oatman, Arizona. Eventually, Decker would attend Northern Arizona State Teachers College (now Northern Arizona University) where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree. She earned a Master of Arts degree in English and School Supervision from the University of Washington and a degree in library sciences from the University of Southern California.

 

Decker’s educational experience prepared her for a career as a teacher and as a librarian. She taught school in Arizona, Nevada, and California. She also worked as a librarian in Northern Arizona. Decker later became the first Clark County Supervisor of Libraries and assisted in setting up 40 libraries in this county.

 

Mrs. Decker’s other accomplishments include her writing and her involvement in professional organizations. As an author, Clarabelle Decker contributed articles to the Nevada Educational Bulletin and to the Wilson Library Bulletin. Decker’s other works include a booklet “Old Oatman, Arizona,” published in 1970, and her book Common Sense English Grammar, published in 1980. Her various poems reflected her creativity and some of these poems appeared in “A String of Lights” (1970).

 

Mrs. Decker was also active in several professional organizations, including the Las Vegas Business and Professional Women’s Club and the Las Vegas Education Association. Decker helped organize the Nevada Library Association. Clarabelle H. Decker Elementary School is named after her. In 1984, Clarabelle Decker died; she was survived by a daughter, Donna Andress.