Jeanne Harrington
I am so sad to learn of Clara’s passing. I received a Christmas letter from her before Christmas. I didn’t send my holiday letters until after Christmas this year and my card to her was just recently returned. I thought that was a foreboding sign and called Randall Residence and learned that she had passed. They did fortunately refer me to this site. I was able to read her obituary and learned so many details that I never knew. It was a beautifully written, loving account of her life. I send heartfelt sympathies for your loss; Clara was indeed such a special lady.
As a bit of background, I am an RN and worked with Clara in the late 60’s at Evanston Hospital CCU where she was head nurse. She was such a beautiful person inside and out. We all admired her. She ran a tight ship, was extremely professional, a great educator, caring, positive, determined and always fair. She never discussed her personal life with any of us as far as I know. She was a rather private person and everyone respected her. After I left the unit and moved to CA in 1970, Clara and I always exchanged Christmas cards/letters. We became better friends. I was so happy for her when she met Tom. I thought she was so deserving and happy that she found someone she felt was so special. Over the years we shared a lot of information with one another. Despite being severely injured in that terrible accident and losing a leg, she never lost her momentum or zest for life as far as I could tell. She was a strong person. When I went through a divorce after 32 years of marriage, she sent me the most supportive and caring letter; she wanted me to believe in myself and my goodness. She truly cared about people. She often wrote about her love for her family and for her many nieces and nephews. She loved you all so much and in the later years how much she loved when you came to visit or called her regularly. She wrote that she felt the staff at Randall Residence was like family. I remember when I read her recent Christmas letter and she mentioned that she cherished the wonderful memories of all the time she had spent with everyone. In retrospect, it was like she was saying goodbye. I wonder if she realized she would soon be leaving us. Clara will be missed.
Jeanne Harrington
Denver, NC