I met Claire in 1973, and I am so very grateful that she was in my life as a good friend for all those years.

Claire Olive Telling was born August 6, 1916 in Connellsville, PA, which is about 30 miles from Pittsburgh. Her Father was William Edmund Burson, and her Mother was Bessie McFeaters, and she was an only child. Claire lived through the Flu Epidemic of 1918 and actually got sick. They put her on the porch in the middle of Winter to sleep. Whole families got infected & died so they had to be very careful. Claire lived through the night and soon after the family moved West to Auburn, WA. She was very active and loved Ice Skating. They moved to Capitol Hill in Seattle in 1933 when she was 17, and she graduated from Broadway High School. Within 2 years they moved to Claire's present house. She only moved away after she married Jack Telling, a Seattle Police Detective. Jack was a handsome man who was clean shaven. When she saw a man with facial hair, or a beard she would always say that their face looked dirty, and that her husband shaved several times a day. Jack was Divorced with a 2 year old Daughter, Joan. Claire never gave birth to any children, but Joan was the Light of her Life. Jack died of Cancer in 1953 and Claire moved back in with her Mother. Claire started working at an early age and eventually was the Executive Assistant to the Head of Foster and Kleiser Advertising Firm. She used to walk to and from work, about 1.5 miles each way. Just before Claire turned 65 she came home so very mad. Her Boss had been let go, and as his Executive Assistant, she was also let go. The next day she said, Well I am just going to view this as a 3 Month Vacation for now. At the end of 3 months she said, I don't know how I ever found the time to work. She loved gardening, and her house is surrounded by beautiful Rhododendrons, Camellias, Lace Leaf Maples, and Roses. She planted Colorful Annuals, Geraniums, and Tomatoes every year.
Claire was smart, caring, & loved to laugh. She was also very organized. She had a file cabinet, and any time she needed something she knew exactly where to look for it. She also rarely procrastinated. If she said... I should do this, she would get up and do it right then. I always say, I need to be more like Claire. She loved people, but she was really an introvert. She wanted to know all about your life and your family, but she was content to stay at home. She would come downstairs around 8AM, turn on the radio in the Kitchen to KIXI 880 AM, open up the back door and feed her Kitties, and then she would read the newspaper while sitting on her white sofa with Boris, her cat next to her... and then do some chores. About 10am she would turn on the TV and sit and do crosswords puzzles, and also have her breakfast. Then it was time to garden for most of the day, or shopping and errands. Dinner was at about 4:30PM. She would do more gardening until the sun went down, and then watch TV. Claire loved Mysteries.. Angela Lansbury, Dick Van Dyke, & Andy Griffith, and also NCIS and CSI.
Claire had a good friend named Helen, and they used to travel every year...but that was back when the guy at the Gas Station pumped your gas. For as competent, smart, and strong as she was, Claire never ever pumped gas, and she stopped traveling when Gas Stations stopped full service. Claire was so sad when she had to stop getting a permanent, since she had had permanents since she was 13 years old. She thought she looked terrible with straight hair, but I always told her, Well, it is a good thing you are pretty, and have pretty eyes. I think you look nice. :)
Claire loved Coca Cola. She used to drink it all day, and she also loved her International Coffees...Like White Chocolate Caramel. She loved Cats, and always had 1 or 2. Her car was always called Betsy, and I think she had 14 cars over her life. Her favorite colors were gray and red...and her cars were usually Silver or Gray. Her house is White and Dove Gray, and she always wore Chambray Blue pants, a red top with a collar, a light gray sweatshirt, light blue slip on Keds, and in the winter months... her Red down filled vest. Every Wednesday she would go to Mari's Beauty Salon in Skyway to have her hair washed and set, and she would read the Scandal Magazines. I drove her to her Hair appointment for about 15 years. Then I would say, Where do you want to go now? IHOP was usually the answer. She loved eggs over easy and limp bacon. She said it tasted better that way. Then I would say. Now where do you want to go?..and we would be off on an adventure. Sometimes it would be Duris Cucumber Farm in Puyallup, or Carpinito Bros in Kent for plants, or Fred Meyer, her favorite store. Eventually when I said, where now? ...she would say... HOME. She always wanted to take the back roads, and hated driving on the Freeways. There were always coolers in Betsy's trunk for her groceries.
Claire loved reading the Business page. She liked to know which company owned which company, and she never wanted to eat at any restaurant owned by Pepsi Cola. On New Year's Eve she would stay up until Midnight and then look at the Fireworks from her second floor office, named the Pumpkin room for it's light color. Her Mother's room was called the Periwinkle Room, and her Bedroom had no name, but was painted a lovely light shade of Pink. Claire bought unsalted peanuts at Costco to feed "her" squirrels. She collected Souvenir Spoons, and always had a year supply of paper towels, TP, and Kleenex. It just made her happy. She could be very stubborn, and hated being told what to do. She would just dig her heels in. She had a lot of grief because her Husband and her Father died very young, and so did her Daughter Joan, and Son-In-Law Robert. She had a lot of friends who would keep in touch with her by calling her, and a small army of good friends who lived near her. Everyone adored Claire. I used to call her my Energizer Bunny, because she just kept going. She had a Super Mortal Body, in part due to great genes, and in part due to always eating everything in moderation. She always said that Time would heal things. I tried for years to research her Genealogy, but kept hitting roadblocks. Claire said she heard she was related to someone who signed the Declaration of Independence, but I have not gotten that far yet....I will keep trying. Claire kept every card anyone gave to her. When she was sitting in her house she looked so very serene and happy...just satisfied with life. Unfortunately she broke her hip in 2007 and had a partial hip replacement, and never lived in her house again. She loved her Care Givers, and loved when they would come into her room and talk with her, and they loved her as well. How could you not? Claire died in Kirkland, WA just shy of her 99th Birthday... on July 12, 2015. She never ever wanted to talk about dying but always said she would be buried near her Parents at Mountain View Cemetery near Auburn, WA. Her Husband Jack is buried near his parents in Tacoma, WA. Joan and Robert are buried on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle. Rest in Peace Dear Friend. As I said... Forever. Love you.