"With Grace to win, with heart to hold,

With Shining gifts that take all eyes." 

Claire Louise Veronneau was born on June 27, 1922 to William Arthur Veronneau and Sally (Charest) Veronneau in Meriden Connecticut. She passed away peacefully in her sleep on Saturday February 23, 2013 at the age of 90.  She was preceded in death by her longtime friend and companion Roland Smith who passed away in August of 2012.

 She is survived by 5 children: James, Laurel, LuAnn, Linda and Lori; 8 grandchildren: Zoe, Gabriel, Asia, Kiera, Jason, Russen, Jaclyn and Alexander; and 7 great-grandchildren, Zora, Eli, Jasmine, Evan, Trevor, Morgan, and Jolie.

She attended school at St. Laurent in Meriden Connecticut and graduated from preparatory school at the Academy of Our Lady of Mercy Lauralton Hall in 1939, at the age of 17.  Her yearbook caption read "With grace to win, with heart to hold, with shining gifts that  take all eyes". Her school activities included Children of Mary Sodality, Catholic Students' Mission Crusade, Debate, Thespians, Choral Society, and Athletic Association. She was captain of her class team in Hockey and received 'L39' letter award for Baseball, Basketball, Tennis, Hockey, and Ping Pong. 

She enjoyed the shore and took her family on vacations to Cape Cod and Old Orchard Beach Maine, where they enjoyed deep sea fishing, the piers, picking wild blueberries and walks on the beach.  They often boated off of Long Island sound and went clamming during the clam season.    

She attended many of the class reunions at Lauralton Hall and kept in touch with the surviving members over the years.  She loved to travel and often drove many miles to visit family in Connecticut, Massachusettes, North Carolina and Florida. She attended as many weddings and ceremonies as possible. 

After a career of bookkeeping and accounting work, she retired to Waldoboro Maine where she enjoyed her love of gardening, cooking,  and seafood.  She always contributed her special pies and cakes to local fundraising events and enjoyed the friendships with her neighbors. 

Her family gathered in Maine in June of 2012 to celebrate her 90th birthday which included a trip to Muscongus Bay Lobster for a feast of lobster and clams.  She proudly displayed the nearly 90 Birthday Cards she received on the wall of her home.

After her slow recovery from the hip surgery in March of 2012, she moved to Florida in August of 2012 and enjoyed visits from family and many many games of scrabble. She enjoyed the daily Jumble, crossword puzzles and the cryptoquotes.   Although her mind was still very sharp, she joked with her daughter  "I am losing my memory in two languages!". She was referring to the French Language of course.


We are never truly gone when we survive in the hearts of our families and friends.