Claire M. McClurkin

Claire Moor McClurkin was the eldest of seven children, born on either June 24th or June 25th of 1918 to Mabel Moor, (nee Mabel Cornelius) and her husband Clifton Moor. For those born before the 1930’s, it’s not uncommon that the Census records show more than one birthday. While her parents named her Gladys Claire Moor, she decided at a very young age that she didn’t feel like a Gladys and informed her bemused parents that her name was from that moment on simply Claire Moor. After the birth of one of her sisters, Claire told her parents that this sister was Gladys, and they agreed. As the eldest, and particularly during the lean times her family faced during the Great Depression, Claire sacrificed some of her childhood to help raise her siblings, a few noting that she was more of a second mother at times than an older sister. Claire met Fredrick R. McClurkin, known to everyone as Mac, in the 1930’s and the two fell in love, got married, and had one daughter in 1940 named Diana Claire McClurkin. During World War II Mac joining the navy and with his experience and skill as an engineer the Navy placed Mac, Claire, and young Diana in San Diego where the family lived on the naval base while Mac helped to build and repair many vessels - from small submarines to enormous carrier ships - where they stayed for the duration of the war. Claire and Mac returned to Georgia and settled in Marietta, GA a town in Cobb County, just outside of Atlanta. Mac got a job he really enjoyed, building planes at Lockheed, where he stayed until he retired. Claire became a 3rd grade teacher at Pine Forest Elementary School in Marietta, where she taught for thirty years. She dedicated her life to Education and once she retired she went to Emory to earn a Masters degree in Education. She volunteered teaching English as a Second Language to people from all over the world who had moved to the United States of America for a shot at the American Dream and possibilities that were non-existant in there home countries. She also tutored many of these students in Civics and American History and Culture so they could pass the citizenship test. She found this work immensely satisfying because at the same time that she was teaching immigrants about American history, culture, and politics she also became close to her students and their families who often invited her over for a meal to thank her and, in doing so, they taught her about their own cultures, values, and traditions. Claire was passionate about history and she traced her own family line back generations, learning she was a distant relative of William Penn. She loved reading, and along with The Bible and Shakespeare she really enjoyed politics and read biographies of each United States Presidents, and while she favored Jefferson, she was beyond excited when she had the opportunity to meet then former President Jimmy Carter. She fought for Civil Rights and pushed to integrate the public school in Marietta where she taught and eventually succeeded in doing just that. She had many hobbies, from cross stitching and needlework, to gardening, reading, and watching older movies on Turner Classic movies with her son in-law.Her membership to the Daughters of the American Revolution also was an important institution in her life. Claire and Mac doted on their daughter Diana her husband Tuffy, and their granddaughter Claire. She and Mac were the best parents and grandparents a child could ask for. Her dedication to Education did not end with her, and both her daughter, granddaughter and son in-law were educators at different parts of their lives. She was truly an inspiration to many and through her work, family, volunteer work, and kind, generous, compassionate, friendly nature, it would be impossible to count the number of people’s lives that she touched and affected for the better in her 97 years. Even in her last few months in the Silverleaf Alzheimer’s Care Facility in Snellville, GA, she not only quickly became a staff favorite, but she formed new strong familial bonds with her nieces near Snellville that she previously hadn’t gotten to know well as she’d been living in Tulsa for a couple decades. Her sister Joy and Joy’s family loved the opportunity to spend time with ‘Aunt Claire’ and went to see her all the time. While her daughter, son in-law, and granddaughter all tried hard to keep her at home and avoid having to put her into a home, with Diana and Tuffy passing in November just 10 days apart and Granny already a Hospice Patient, her primary care physician insisted she not be discharged home with her granddaughter Claire, as Claire Pettie is chronically ill herself and she was no longer able to lift Granny on her own. Claire and her husband Earnest Pettie wanted to try to keep her near them where they now reside in Los Angeles, California, but finding a facility with the highest quality of care you could want for your loved one suffering from dementia - and the home being in Snellville, GA so very close to one of her three living siblings, Joy Robbins and her children and grandchildren all living so close by, it felt like fate had made the choice for her, and under the wonderful care of the staff at Silverleaf who followed the example of two wonderful caregivers - the head nurse Keren and the owner and operator Wayne Reid, Between the phenomenal staff at Silverleaf, her excellent hospice care workers from Crossroads Hospice, and her loving extended family nearby and visitng all the time, Claire really blossomed since arriving at Silverleaf on Christmas Eve allowing her to spend Christmas Day with her family, and the last year of her life, even plagued with health problems, was one of her happiest years. She smiled more, and sang along with music she enjoyed. The move to Silverleaf gave Claire the important opportunity to have a fresh start - there was no longer the pressure to remember those around her all the time and for someone with dementia that made all the difference. With this fresh start came a more relaxed environment and Claire was more at peace with herself, no longer trying to please the people around her, and the anxiety and stress of not being able to remember was taking a major toll on her brain and her body. When Claire Moor McClurkin died at night on September 13th 2015, as a Baptist and a woman of faith, she was looking forward to reuniting with her lost loved ones, her husband Mac, her daughter Diana and son in-law Tuffy who both passed in November, her parents Mabel and Clifton Moor, and her siblings Carol, Cliff, and Ann - not to mention the many loved ones in her extended family, her in-laws through those her siblings married, cousins, nieces, nephews, colleagues, friends, and students were all there to greet her, as living to 97 years old meant so many of those she loved passed away before she did. She is survived by her sister Sybil Gentle and her family, (Sybil has moved closer to her daughter Gay Rodriguez who helps to take care of her in Texas, and who called to express their condolences their condolences and regretfully inform us that Sybil’s memory was failing and so was her health so they will not be able to attend the funeral in Marietta on Saturday. Sadly, Claire was predeceased by her other sisters Carol and Ann and her brother Cliff. Besides Sybil, of her immediate family she is survived by only two other living siblings, the fraternal twins who were the youngest of the family, Joy Robbins and Roy Moor, who were only four years older than Granny’s own daughter, Diana. And finally - along with the many descendants of her siblings and the ever-growing generations of cousins, nieces, and nephews - Claire is survived by her granddaughter, Guardian, caregiver and namesake, Claire Aaronson Pettie, nee Claire Moor Aaronson, and Claire Petttie’s husband, and Claire McClurkin’s grandson in-law, Earnest Ray Pettie, II. Services will be held this Saturday at at the Mayes Ward-Dobbins Funeral Home Chapel at 2:00 PM and led by the Crossroads Hospice Chaplain, Doug Watson, who, like Claire, is Baptist. The Chaplain will speak briefly about Claire, say a prayer for her and her grieving family and loved ones, and then invite others to speak if they want to. This short service will then leave in a procession to the nearby cemetery, Woodlawn Mountain View Park Cemetery in Marietta where the Chaplain will again say a brief prayer and Claire will be interred in her plot right next to her late husband Mac and only a few feet down from where her daughter Diana has been laid to rest. There will be a tent and chairs set up for those who want to go to the graveside service as well The family asks that in lieu of sending flowers, donations be made in Claire McClurkin’s name to charities or organizations devoted to civil rights or education. For some other ideas of places you can donate to, Claire would love it if you took a look at her interests and passions, eg the DAR, the Shakespeare Club, Education for both those born in America and those imigrating here in search of a better life, gardening, etc and here are some ideas for a donation made in her name in a message her granddaughter posted on Facebook: “pe of donations. Retirement in no way slowed Granny down. She went back and got a Masters degree from Emory. She taught English as a Second Language and helped people from other countries gain citizenship. She fought for civil rights.She was a lifetime member of the DAR, and when I notified our local chapter in Tulsa about any traditions in the organization who have passed away, they were very forthcoming. Granny was always involved in a Shakespeare Clubs. Granny had a green thumb, she not only enjoyed gardening but she volunteered at the Garden Center in Tulsa. She loved to read and thoroughly enjoyed presidential biographies. I hope that by telling you about the things that mattered to Granny, you can pick one that you feel strongly about as well, and can donate to the organization that supports this particular interest. For example, if you love reading like she did, donate to a local library. If you want to donate to a scholarship fund, you could do so at Emory, if you believe in equality and civil rights as Granny did, donate to the NAACP, and if you believe that part of being an American is helping others speak English and pass their citizenship tests, you could donate to the groups currently welcoming and raising money for the Syrian refugee, and finally, if you have a green thumb like Granny did, you could donate to a non-profit gardening center, or a club that is trying to preserve the environment. Granny would be touched by your gifts and donations to the things that really mattered to her, that you believe in as well. And of course, please don't feel you need to donate, these are merely some suggestions.”

Claire M. McClurkin

June 25, 1918 - September 14, 2015