This memorial website was created in memory of our loved one, Lauren Clemons 58 years old , born on June 6, 1960 and passed away on August 31, 2018. We will remember her forever.
Beloved wife and mother of our miracle son Jason. An avid Boston Red Sox and Miami Dolphins fan. She went to many Boston home games, including the one where Coco Crisp crawled out from under a bench clearing pile of players. Attended as a season ticket holder in Miami for two seasons cheering them on with myself, an avid New England Patriots fan.
I knew Laurie when we were kids in grammar school and was introduced to her in 1980 by my friend Wayne Brown, who was dating her best friend Lynn. She was attending Salve Regina University in Newport, RI working on her Bachelors degree in Criminal Justice. We had many good times in Newport including seeing the Americas Cup Race, Christmas in Newport, and many of Salve's parties, some that were given in the Mansions of Newport.
She worked in the Region 16 School District as a kindergarten aid, special ed aid at Laurel Ledge and as a substitute teacher at Long River Middle School. She also taught Quilting and Scrapbooking classes for Adult Ed because she was very craft savvy. She touched many of the students lives in school, especially her special ed child who learned a lot from her. The middle school classes she taught got to respect her because she pulled no punches when it came to discipline. All she had to do was ask them to settle down and wait, and they did, with very few exceptions. She was well respected by teachers, and students alike.
We visited many international destinations either on vacation or with my work at Sikorsky Aircraft, including the Paris Air Show in 1999 and taking in many famous places, including The Louvre, Notre Dame Cathedral and the Holocaust Museum, found by accident behind the Cathedral, The Omaha Beach Memorial Cemetery, Sacre Cour, Versailles, and many other memorable sites in France.
Visiting friends in Australia for two weeks in 1988 taking in many sites in Sydney, Canberra, and the Worlds Fair in Brisbane. Australia was an awe inspiring place to visit. The Sydney Opera House with its many acoustic theaters where you could her a pin drop on the stage all the way in the back of the theater. Holding a Koala Bear in a zoo in Brisbane And waking up to snow in August, which is their Winter. Upon leaving Australia we crossed the dateline and lived the same day twice, once in Australia and then again in Hawaii. When we returned we found out she was pregnant with Jason, who we call our miracle child because of complications during his birth.
A 12 day cruise from Hawaii to Tahiti for our 20th anniversary. Visited 5 of the Hawaiian islands, Christmas Island on Easter Sunday, Bora Bora, Moorea, and Tahiti. It was a relaxing 12 days of fun and sun and all of the pampering we could need or want.There are many other adventures taken that are too many to mention, but we had the time of our lives while traveling the US and Canada also, enjoying every minute of it. But as life goes, it was fun while it lasted.
Everything came to a halt when Laurie first got sick in March 2015 and was not able to get around anymore. I was her chief cook and maid, giving her sponge baths and attending to her needs as best as I could while working at Home Depot part time and then full time. We would occasionally take walks around the neighborhood using her scooter and Archer just to get her out of the house and into some fresh air, even if it was hot and muggy at times. It made her feel better just to get out of the house. Her last illness was sudden and unexpected and she passed quietly with friends nearby.
She was the love of my life and I will miss her dearly.
Tributes
Leave a tributeI spent many a weekend in Newport afterwards and have many good memories. Going to some of the mansions, eating at Nicholas Pizza, Clark Cooke House, and many other great Newport restaurants and hotels over the two years while she was at college and beyond. I met a lot of her classmates and had some great times with them.
We were married for 35 years before her passing and traveled to many places together. Some work related while I worked at Sikorsky and others on vacations together. One of the many trips we went on was a 12-day cruise from Hawaii to Papeete, Tahiti for our 20th anniversary. We travelled to five of the Hawaiian Islands then to Christmas Island on Easter Sunday then Bora Bora, Morea and on to Papeete. It was an amazing anniversary present that Laurie did not know about until Christmas 2002.
One of our goals was to travel the US in a Class C camper, when I retired, to see the US as our final journey together. Sadly, Laurie will miss this trip together in person, but she will be with me in spirit when I embark on our final journey in 2022. I have seen many parts of the US when my family went on trips to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, and the St Louis Arch when I was a teenager. But there are many parts of the US that we wanted to see together.
Laurie is missed by both Jason and myself. We talk of her often when he comes to visit every couple of months. Jason and his girlfriend Holly have visited a couple of times in the last eight months. We all went to Disney at Christmas last year and to Hollywood Studios this last week to ride the Rise of the Resistance. We ate at the Brown Derby Restaurant for the first time and had a great time and the food was delicious.
This is getting long and all I wanted to do is say hello to my wife of 35 years and hope she is with all of her friends and relatives, including her mom and dad, brother Jerry, and Archer, who sadly left us at Christmas last year, which was Laurie’s favorite holiday.
Have a wonderful time Laurie and keep a light on for me when it is my turn to join you in the afterlife.
ILY with all my heart.
Hugs Jay,
Eileen <3
God looked around his garden
And found an empty place,
He then looked down upon the earth
And saw your tired face.
He put his arms around you
And lifted you to rest.
God’s garden must be beautiful
He always takes the best.
He knew that you were suffering
He knew you were in pain.
He knew that you would never
Get well on earth again.
He saw the road was getting rough
And the hills were hard to climb.
So he closed your weary eyelids
And whispered, ‘Peace be Thine’.
It broke our hearts to lose you
But you didn’t go alone,
For part of us went with you
The day God called you home.
Leave a Tribute
I spent many a weekend in Newport afterwards and have many good memories. Going to some of the mansions, eating at Nicholas Pizza, Clark Cooke House, and many other great Newport restaurants and hotels over the two years while she was at college and beyond. I met a lot of her classmates and had some great times with them.
We were married for 35 years before her passing and traveled to many places together. Some work related while I worked at Sikorsky and others on vacations together. One of the many trips we went on was a 12-day cruise from Hawaii to Papeete, Tahiti for our 20th anniversary. We travelled to five of the Hawaiian Islands then to Christmas Island on Easter Sunday then Bora Bora, Morea and on to Papeete. It was an amazing anniversary present that Laurie did not know about until Christmas 2002.
One of our goals was to travel the US in a Class C camper, when I retired, to see the US as our final journey together. Sadly, Laurie will miss this trip together in person, but she will be with me in spirit when I embark on our final journey in 2022. I have seen many parts of the US when my family went on trips to Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Mt Rushmore, and the St Louis Arch when I was a teenager. But there are many parts of the US that we wanted to see together.
Laurie is missed by both Jason and myself. We talk of her often when he comes to visit every couple of months. Jason and his girlfriend Holly have visited a couple of times in the last eight months. We all went to Disney at Christmas last year and to Hollywood Studios this last week to ride the Rise of the Resistance. We ate at the Brown Derby Restaurant for the first time and had a great time and the food was delicious.
This is getting long and all I wanted to do is say hello to my wife of 35 years and hope she is with all of her friends and relatives, including her mom and dad, brother Jerry, and Archer, who sadly left us at Christmas last year, which was Laurie’s favorite holiday.
Have a wonderful time Laurie and keep a light on for me when it is my turn to join you in the afterlife.
ILY with all my heart.
Remembering our time together
It has been one year ago as of 9:35 am that you left this earth for a better place. You are now without pain, can walk and do the things you wanted to do. You can visit your friends and relatives that have gone before and after you, like your brother Jerry, your mom and dad Alice and Harry, your favorite aunt Marie, Marv and Louise, and all of your uncles, aunts, cousins and family friends you knew over the years.
I miss you every day and more. Our first date was on Nov. 7, 1980 in Newport, RI. We ate at the Canfield House at the beginning of Cliff Walk. Spent the weekend driving around Newport with you as the tour guide showing me all of the places you partied at with you classmates. You never let me forget the date, calling it our “Anniversary” every year by asking me “Do you remember what day this is?”
We did a lot together over the 35 years, especially the trips to faraway places like Paris in 1999 when I went to the Paris Air Show for work. We spent two weeks together there and have a lot of great memories – going to the Louvre to see Mona and Venus - the two ladies of the house. Seeing Monet’s home and gardens, Sacré Coeur and having one beer, in a heavy glass 32 oz stein. Seeing Notre Dame and finding the Holocaust Museum behind it in a stone cave by accident. And just before we left, taking a trip to Normandy to see the beach and the graves of the brave men who gave their lives to free Europe.
In 1988 we went to Australia and stayed with Marv and Louise in Cronulla, outside of Sydney. Saw a lot of the East Coast of Australia from Brisbane to Canberra. We got to hold a Koala Bear at a zoo and went to the World Expo in Brisbane (Australia’s 200th Birthday), walked on top of the capital building, which was partially built underground with a grass roof in Canberra. Visited the Sydney Opera House, ate the best Chinese food ever and had dinner at Tony Roma’s across the bay from the Opera House. We left Australia @ 5:30 pm on 8-8-88 and arrived in Honolulu @ 5:30 am the same day by crossing the International Dateline. Very few people can say that they lived that day twice. When we got back to CT, we found out you were pregnant with Jason after 5 years of trying (I think it was the campout we did on the 4th of July weekend).
We had many trips in the US with and without our camper. Going to the Big E every fall, to the Annalee Gift Shop in NH, driving up Mt Washington, and traveling to Florida to visit your parents in February. For our 20th Anniversary I purchased tickets for our first cruise. A 12 day trip in the Pacific with 5 days visiting the islands of Hawaii, stopped at Christmas Island on Easter Sunday, then on to Morea, Bora Bora, and Tahiti. We had a ball.
Jason left Prime and is now driving for Taylor Trucking and comes home once a month instead of every two to three months. We have a good time together going to Disney every so often and working on cleaning the house. We just went to Hollywood Studios last week for a preview of the new Star Wars exhibit and drank Blue Milk with Rum and Green Milk with Tequila, went on the new Smugglers Run ride and looked for new pins to add to your collection. Derek is now living in Dallas and working for the same company from his home, Trish and Ed are still here in St Lucie.
I know this is getting a little long, but I really miss you. Every time I think about something we did together I get a tear in my eye. And this letter has been hard to write. I just wanted to say these things as a remembrance of our life together, the friends we know and new friends we made, and the good times we had.
Thank you for our wonderful time together for 35 years as a husband and wife and parents of our son Jason, who turned out to be a smart, thoughtful and considerate son we could be proud of.
Your loving husband Jay…ILY
A photo of the lake house for you
One more...
Jay, I imagine you recall I was married for a short time, beginning in 1984. I am not sure if you recall the after-reception party at my parents' house in Tolland? Laurie and my dad made an obscene number of cups of coffee for people who had been drinking since noon. I think they each had one.Laurie and my dad. We have laughed over how silly that was for all these years. We were chatting on FB right before this last illness. I told her I have the offending coffeepot in my garage, I will send it to you. She knew my dad is in Hospice and is always so kind asking about him and recalling funny stories. For some reason that one stuck and we just revisited it a few weeks ago.