After a long struggle with Alzheimers, our precious mother Claire passed away on Sunday July 19th, 2020. She was 92.
Claire will be remembered for devoting her entire life to her family and others.
Those who so desire may make a memorial donation to Claire’s favourite charity Doctors Without Borders at www.msf.org.
Vos marques de sympathie peuvent se traduire par un don aux Médecins sans Frontières www.msf.org
Thank you, merci à Wale’s Home pour votre dévouement et excellents soins prodigués, for your undeniable diligence and respectful care.

Claire was born into a fun loving family. Over the years the Laframboise unit bloomed to sixteen members. Grandma (Cécilia) and Grampa ( Alcide) Laframboise were a strong team with good values and each with a high working standard. They both promoted education, bilingualism, loyalty and good citizenship. They led by example. Mom spoke highly of her childhood. She had a strong relationship with her parents, her siblings, as well as some relatives. At a young age, Claire learned to take care of younger siblings and to complete chores with efficiency to free up some time to play, to study and to read. In her teen years, she bowled and attended Friday dances with enthusiasm. Claire and her siblings were fearless, having to cross the lake at night in near total darkness to attend the local activities. Mom was proud to tell us that she had numerous boyfriends, many of whom she met at those dances.

Mom perfected her French language skills in Nicolet, Québec at Les Soeurs de L’Assomption. Sent to a boarding school at the tender age of 16, Claire soon learnt that she was trustworthy, capable, skilled and strong willed. After graduation, Mom strived in being an excellent lab technician. Claire also took great pride in being a strong independent woman as well as a feminist her entire life.

While working in Baie Comeau, taking a blood sample from a gorgeous uniformed man, our parents met. There was no turning back. Dad, Albert Martin, fell deeply head over heals in love with Claire.
He respected her, supported her and admired her. Al nicknamed his precious Claire “Kitten”. And most mornings, he gave her love pats in front of us kiddies, as we, the onlookers, giggled. When we watched TV as a family, Mom and Dad took up the entire living room couch. Al stretched out completely, lying with his head in Mom’s lap. Claire would massage and/ or brush her husband’s head/hair for the full duration of the shows. We kids, all have fond memories of us piling up on top of each other, on the floor, next to our parents.

As adults, we learned that Dad never once said “I love you, Claire”. Even after ten children, each born thirteen months apart, there was never an I love you, not even on Valentine’s Day. Mom explained that Al felt that those words were too banal and common. Instead, he chose “I ADORE YOU”. Our parents remained lovey dovey through thick and thin, and were true soul mates. They supported each other to no end after losing their daughter to crib death. Marie was born between Michele and the twins. Claire’s two youngest identical twins were her pride and joy.

Mom and Dad had a solid marriage. Like most relationships, there were some highs as well as some lows. Dad once explained to me that for a marriage to be successful, it is imperative for neither partner to go to bed angry. They worked things out regularly as we children gave them lots to talk about. Those of us with bedrooms near theirs, often heard our parents chat, giggle and snore in harmony.

Mom was a beautiful woman inside and out. Dad felt safe in bringing co-workers home for a meal without notice. Every year, Al would ask his adored wife to prepare all of the food for his Christmas office party. Visitors, neighbours, relatives and drop in guests were fed delicious home cooked meals often based on fresh produce from Dad’s amazing vegetable garden. Mom loved to entertain Dad’s friends and laughed endlessly at their teasing and their jokes. Dad’s friends nicknamed our mother ‘’Sainte Claire” for Mom was always delightful and never complained, not even when sick. She was stoic. A few years ago, when living alone in Stanstead, Mom came down with the flesh eating disease and to our dismay, none of us were notified. As old age started to set in, Mom’s fingers, toes, ankles and knees became arthritic, Claire kept the pain to herself. And when we were in our youth, Mom badly shattered her ankle. Dad was prohibited to drive her to the hospital until her younger children were all secured with babysitters.

Sainte-Claire never ceased to awe us, welcoming and caring for children who were from outside our home. It seemed that every child in our neighbourhood found their way to our backyard swimming pool before our municipality built its own. Mom was known to provide a safe haven to all. It was as though she was gifted a sixth sense. She gave special attention to those friends that either came from a shattered home or were simply neglected. Friends noted that mom not once asked, “so when are you going home?” One such childhood friend wrote that “Claire was always warm and accepting”. She also stated that in knowing Mom, she knew that tenderness really did exist, in fact, she witnessed it first hand.

On one occasion, Mom sewed a beautiful graduation dress for a young girl who had lost her mother to cancer. Mom nursed our maladies, our wounds and our injuries as well as those of our friends. In my younger years, I actually thought that Mom had had a career in nursing, she was that good. Two daughters wanting to celebrate their parents’ anniversary, asked Mom to prepare all of the food for the event. And one Christmas, our parents took in orphaned children. Al and Claire both taught us empathy. It was a lesson in, « it takes a village to raise a child ». Over the winter months, Mom would knit baby blankets for young mothers to swaddle their babies in, for their journey home from hospital. A close friend of Dad’s, a police officer that was falsely accused of wrong doing, struggled to make ends meet. Our parents provided them with fresh food from our enlarged garden, bread from a local shop and some of Mom’s delicious baking. This went on until he won his case in court.

Mom showed interest in our education by taking part in the Parent School Committee year after year. She never once missed a meeting. Our parents never clipped our wings. On the contrary, they allowed us to choose our own futures, be our own person and gave us an unlimited supply of unconditional love. Mom had an immeasurable depth of joy and peace when she was amongst her children talking and laughing together.

From the oldest to the youngest, we were all very well provided for, due to our parents’ many, many sacrifices. Mom was the family accountant. Dad, the bread winner, handed over his full pay check with trust and confidence. Mom used a small amount of the money from each pay check to buy one single special item that they could call their own. Over the course of many years, Mom and Dad earned themselves a full set of fine bone china plates, complete with serving dishes, a delicate crystal glass set and a beautiful set of silver cutlery. Our family, our friends and our relatives, enjoyed their prized possessions on special occasions.

Christmases were so special in our house. Mom made certain that we all had fun and that our celebrations were filled with traditions as well as delight. Mom planned out every detail from a to z. She would start her baking in early fall making dark Christmas cakes that needed to be soaked in rhum for months. Then later, came the assortment of cookies, squares, cakes, pies and tourtières. On December 24th, Christmas Eve, we got to savour home made tourtières, salad or coleslaw, and of course deserts. During the very wee hours of December 25th, Mom would get out of her nice cozy bed to ascertain that her already stuffed turkey had enough hours to bake to perfection. Christmas Day was filled with laughter, games and exquisite food. Claire made sure of that.

Like many families at the time, Mom cut out grocery coupons and shopped regularly to keep the family costs down. Claire would also make all of her own clothes from the latest Vogue patterns using beautiful fabrics. Seersucker, fine cottons, silks and linens for her summer designs. And her winter confections were of the finest wools and tweeds. She was often mistaken as an European, due to a little French Ontarian accent as well as her haute couture. She always looked fashionable and well put together without going to too much expense. Mom was always elegant and feminine. Her husband, Al, was always proud to walk to and from church with his beautiful wife and best friend. They were both stunning people. Mom wore her dresses with style and pride. She had so much pizzaz. Even her jewelry was chosen with good taste. From head to toe she looked amazing. It was important to Claire, that we children be fashionably dressed with our own unique style. Here, too, she supported us by confecting some of our clothes as well.

The RCMP would have dances a few times a year. Mom especially looked forward to these events as they were opportunities to be with grownups. Needless to say, a little couple time, and an opportunity to get away from their nine rambunctious children, was a real treat. Mom would confect a special evening dress for each of these parties. On one such occasion, she knit herself an entire dress. The next day, she disassembled it and knit each of the twins a sweater. How special is that? And it was for decades, that I had envisioned my parents dancing the night away, happy as clams, until, I was told that “Dad did not know how to dance”. My magnificent father did not know how to dance...what? Mom shared, that it was dad’s RCMP buddies who kept her hopping and bopping the night away. For the longest time, I had assumed that Dad was as fabulous a dancer as he was a beautiful skater.

Al and Claire had fun together. They enjoyed playing organized bridge with six other neighbourhood friends. Together, the two of them played cribbage on a regular basis, enjoyed a good glass of wine, a gin and tonic or a good scotch and hanging out on their backyard swing.

Claire craved to be a professional most of her life. It seemed to be in her blood. However, family duties came first. Her dream was put on hold for decades. It was only much later, that she took on the role of being a business woman. Only after the twins were in high school did Mom seriously contemplate working outside the home. She started working for Meals on Wheels as a receptionist and secretary. She managed to buy her first car with pride. Later, she became part-owner with our sister Michele of a quaint little coffee shop, Le Marché Noir. This was well before coffee shops were popular. To us, our mother stood out from other mothers by being an avant-garde and a feminist. This was obvious in her house decor, her dress and now in her businesses. After losing Dad, Mom tried her hand at running a Bed and Breakfast in the Eastern Townships. She named her five bedroom B&B “Gîte Après Le Jour”. She entertained and hosted people from all over the world. Her claim to fame was filling her beautiful home weekly with French guests from France. They were tickled pink with her hosting skills as well as her amazing home cooked meals. They often gifted her. She was in her element, happy and stimulated. Mom often expressed her contentment by saying “oh, que la vie est belle”.

Mom had a quiet, sophisticated and gentle demeanour except maybe, when she was with her Laframboise family clan. When those sisters of hers and Claire got together, watch out, there was no stopping them, they would giggle and laugh to no end. Camp Pleasant was a recluse for Mom. Here, loving sisters, brothers and parents greeted her with open arms. She always felt safe, special and treasured there. They, the grownups, often shared very intimate conversations and some turmoils.

Claire was always positive. She viewed life as a glass half full. She spoke highly of her childhood and her Laframboise family. She made our house a home and our family a strong unit. We all had loads of fun under her roof. When Mom and Dad moved to a condo, Claire expressed to her sister that “ I feel like I am playing house “.

Mom was a go-getter, she loved to experience new things, explore new places and meet new people of different backgrounds. Claire was kind, smart, loved to laugh and seldom lost her temper. Her patience was undeniable. It was said that “she had the same level of patience as her mother”.

Once, the twins left tiny little foot prints on the living room wall from climbing the curtains. Instead of losing her cool, Mom simply said (stolen from Grandma) “It is just one of those things”.

Even in her last years, at the residence for Alzheimer’s, Mom remained patient, calm, respectful and was loved by the caregivers and the residents. Claire continued to enjoy laughing and being entertained. She especially loved her time with us kids and grandkids. At meal time, Michele would cluck like a chicken when the residence was serving chicken, and moo like a cow when beef was served. Mom would crack up every time it was chicken, it never seemed to grow old.

Mom viewed every visit as a special event. She remained so proud of us all, we saw it in her eyes and her smile. She did not need to be verbal, the message was very clear.

There is one summer visit, I will never forget. It was a beautiful sunny day, Wayne and I decided to take Mom out to visit the beautiful garden on Norton 1 of the Wale’s Home Residence. We had brought some fresh cherries with us. Mom was non verbal at the time. As we shared the cherries with Mom, Wayne stated that he was afraid that Mom might swallow the pit. Claire hearing this, turned to Wayne and spat her pit directly at him. She did so with each and every remaining cherry, giggling each time. She always had a little rebellious and fun side to her. Each one of us has so many fond and treasured memories of Claire and it is these that we will recount with adoration. This is only a little synapse of her life well lived. Sa vie était belle.

Claire Laframboise our matriarch, was one special daughter, sister, woman, wife, mother, aunt, grand-mother and great grand-mother and she was devoted to us. How lucky were we to have such an amazing woman in our lives? She was truly a gift from heaven and we will miss her dearly.