Claire Marie Flanders    

August 6, 1947 - September 22, 2025

Our classmate Claire Marie Flanders has passed away. Claire left instructions that she did not want an obituary published and did not want a funeral, and those close to her have honored those requests. I will attempt to provide information about Claire that I think she would approve of my providing to you—her classmates and friends. I am usually a person who, confronted with tasks that must be done, will complete the most difficult ones first. But when it came to Claire’s passing, I’ve been deliberate in delaying to announce it because I think I didn’t want it to be real.

Claire passed away on September 22, 2025, in Redding, California, after a short bout with cancer which was impacting her spine and her ability to walk. She had fifty places of metastatic cancer in her spine and a tumor was impinging on her spinal cord. Claire had been diagnosed with cancer many years ago, had been treated, and had been in remission for many years. She was surprised at being diagnosed once again with cancer, saying “this came out of nowhere and I was blindsided,” but she was upbeat and cautiously optimistic about treatment, having chosen radiation and not chemo because of her age. She was still hospitalized when I received my last post from her letting me know that her “criteria for going home” was “getting in and out of bed, by myself, able to walk 40 feet to bathroom, sitting down and getting up out of a recliner on my own.”  She recognized it would be “a long and arduous road.” She passed away not long after she told me this.

Claire was born August 6, 1947, in Chicago to Charles Flanders and Estelle (Stella) Dufixes Flanders. Her mother’s parents were both born in Greece and Claire was proud of that heritage. She had one sister, now deceased, who was several years older and born during an earlier marriage of her mother. Claire grew up in Chicago, and her parents moved to Las Vegas sometime before Claire’s eighth grade school year, which is when I first met her at Roy Martin Junior High. I’m not sure when she actually moved to Las Vegas and it could have been earlier than eighth grade. But I do know that she attended parochial school (Catholic) in Chicago when young. She told me about a terrible incident at that school, although I think she had likely already moved to Las Vegas when it occurred. The school was Our Lady of the Angels Elementary School, in Claire’s Chicago neighborhood. A fire broke out there on December 1, 1958, just before school was to be dismissed. About 1600 students were enrolled, and 92 children and three nuns were killed by heat, smoke, toxic gases, and fire. Dozens of others were injured when they jumped from second floor windows which were as high as third floor windows. Some of those killed were siblings and/or cousins. That fire had a big impact on Claire and I think she knew many of the victims.

Claire attended Roy Martin Junior High in 8th and 9th grades. One of her teachers there was Jim Norris, who was also a police officer. On one of Claire’s first days in his class, he called on her to answer a question. As students had been required to do in Chicago parochial schools, Claire jumped to her feet, stood at attention, and said “Sir” and proceeded to answer. Mr. Norris thought she was mocking him and being insubordinate, and promptly sent her to the office to be disciplined by vice-principal Mr. Dailey.

Claire enjoyed high school, especially her work on the Desert Breeze newspaper, and Pep Club. After graduation, Claire attended and graduated from Nevada Southern University and moved to Reno to begin working as a radiology technician. She loved her job and enjoyed sports. Claire later moved to Red Bluff in Northern California and continued her work in radiology. She had many friends there, and enjoyed photography, especially of native flowers. When I had medical questions, I asked her because I knew she would be straightforward and accurate.

I called Claire my “evil twin” since we had so many likes and dislikes in common. She was wise and one of the most tactful people I’ve ever known. I will miss her, and will also miss her advice and common sense.

Posted by Judy Dennison Wolferts,  December 19, 2025