In the afternoon of August 13th 2024, Clarice Marie Claps Wiedorn passed away peacefully at her home on Gulf Drive in Holmes Beach, with her daughter Cathy Camille by her side. She was 98 ½ years old.
Known by most everyone who knew her as Clare, she was born on January 24, 1926 at the family home in New Rochelle, NY. She was the third child, and second surviving child, of Camille Colangelo Claps and George Anthony Claps.
At around age five the family moved to Waterbury, CT where her mother had grown up. She was Valedictorian of her class at Bucks Hill Grammar School and graduated from Crosby High in 1943. In 1947 she graduated from the University of Connecticut with a major in Mathematics. Her college yearbook describes her as being a music lover, having dreamy brown eyes, and being "Einstein's Successor."
In 1951 Clare went off on a five-month adventure travelling on her own throughout Europe. While there she visited her Italian relatives in Avigliano and Ruoti and spent Christmas with them.
Shortly after returning from her trip, she attended a party in Storrs, CT where she was introduced to her future husband Albert Wiedorn. Her friend Grace thought they would hit it off as they both shared a love of travel. Coincidentally they had both attended Crosby High in Waterbury, graduating in the same class.
Together they hatched a plan to become teachers so they could get jobs at American Schools overseas and travel in the summers. Clare and Al married on July 11, 1953. In 1955, with their 5-week-old firstborn, Paul, in tow they moved to Quito, Ecuador. After that they lived in Santo Domingo (then known as Ciudad de Trujillo), Dominican Republic; East Granby, CT; Brasilia, Brazil; Tegucigalpa, Honduras; Riverview, FL; and finally, Holmes Beach.
After returning from Brazil in 1970, Clarice worked briefly as a clerk at Heublein liquor company. Then in 1972 she completed her training as a computer programmer and worked at the Hartford Insurance Group until 1977 when she joined her husband in Honduras. Imagine, at the time computers used punch cards, there was no internet, and software programs were written by hand!
In 1978 Clare and Al moved to Florida to become managers of the Alafia River Campers Resort they co-owned with their siblings Fred and Gladys Wiedorn, and Elmer and Ingrid Claps. After selling the A.R.C. in 1987 they purchased their home in Holmes Beach, rented it out and continued their travelling adventures. In the end they had visited over one hundred countries.
After Al passed away in 2010, Clare enticed other family members to travel with her. Her last trip was to Jordan accompanied by her niece Judy Drake. They returned to the US just in time as the world was shutting down due to the Coronavirus Pandemic.
In her time in Holmes Beach Clare enjoyed early morning walks on the beach and swimming in the Gulf. A lifetime swimmer, described in her High School Yearbook as a mermaid, she could be seen swimming in the Gulf well into her 90s. She also developed a lovely group of friends who met on the beach in the late afternoon to enjoy a cocktail and critique the sunset.
On her 90th birthday Clare threw herself a party. At the toast she declared to her friends and family that she had had a wonderful life. And indeed she had!
She is survived by her son Paul Wiedorn, his wife Macushla Wiedorn, and their children Ian, Arras, and Patrick and his wife Krista Mangiardi; daughter Cathy Camille Mazurek and husband John Mazurek; and a large extended family. She is pre-deceased by her husband Albert Wiedorn, and siblings Gladys, Elmer and Donald.
There will be a memorial service/celebration of life on Thursday, August 29th. Gathering 5-6pm, ceremony 6-7pm at Toale Brothers Chapel Bradenton 912 53rd Ave West, Bradenton, FL.
