Dr. Mary Carol Louise Lechner Clarke, on team that pioneered breast cancer diagnostics, dies at 69

Dr. Mary Carol Louise Lechner Clarke was a pioneer in the detection of breast cancer, helping to develop a quicker and less invasive way to diagnose the disease.

Lechner Clarke, a diagnostic radiologist, was part of a team of Minnesota doctors in the early 1990s that developed a technique to diagnose breast cancer using mammography and biopsies instead of relying on surgery to remove tissue for testing. Their groundbreaking technique changed how breast cancer was diagnosed across the country, said colleague Dr. Michael T. Nelson.

Lechner Clarke and Nelson were on a team that cofounded the Park Nicollet Jane Brattain Breast Center in St. Louis Park, and Lechner Clarke served as its medical director for nearly 14 years. In addition to reading thousands of mammograms, she also trained other physicians across the country in this new diagnostic technique.

"She was a humble North Dakota gal who made it to the Twin Cities and became an expert in breast cancer diagnosis," said Nelson, now a professor emeritus of radiology at the University of Minnesota.

After struggling with Parkinson's disease, Lechner Clarke died at home in Northfield on Oct. 22. She was 69.

Lechner Clarke was born on Sept. 4, 1952, the oldest of William and Geraldine Lechner's four children. She grew up in Fargo and graduated from Fargo South High School in 1970. She earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and her medical degree at the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks. She completed her residency at the University of Minnesota and settled in the Twin Cities. She married Dr. James Presthus and they had three children. The couple divorced and Lechner Clarke married David Clarke in 1997. They raised their blended family in Bloomington. Lechner Clarke specialized in diagnostic radiology and breast cancer, examining medical images to find abnormalities.

"She probably had one of the best mammography eyes in the United States. She could beat the computer every time," Nelson said.

"She demanded abnormalities to be worked up the same day. She created a team that could actually do that," Nelson said. "She said, 'Let's end the sleepless nights.' "

Lechner Clarke took a position as the medical director for breast imaging at the Center for Diagnostic Imaging Twin Cities in July 2009. She left that position around 2013 after the tremors and other symptoms of Parkinson's made it difficult to work, her husband said.

Throughout her career, Clarke said, his wife remained humble and treated everyone she worked with "like her equal."

"I was just always amazed at the number of women who said in conversation, 'Mary Carol, you saved my life,' " Clarke said. In their free time, the couple enjoyed traveling. Lechner Clarke also liked gardening and entertaining family and friends. She delighted in decorating for Christmas. She was a devoted mother, her husband said.

Lechner Clarke is survived by her husband, three children: Jennifer Lukaska of Edina; Claire Presthus of Los Angeles; Anna Presthus of Northfield; and stepchildren Adam Clarke of Bloomington; and Helen Clarke of Northfield.