Claire Marie Cowe, age 90 of Halifax, passed away peacefully on February 10, 2022 surrounded by her family. She was the beloved wife of the late Melvin G. Cowe and mother to Dennis P. Cowe of Edgewater, Florida, and his wife, Lisa Panagrossi, Patricia A. Gortner of Castle Pines, Colorado, Karen C. Leighton and her husband Lawrence Leighton of New York, and Dr. Kathi Cowe and her fiance Paul Leonard of East Taunton..
Born in North Quincy, Claire was the daughter of Frederick and Gertrude Cook. In her early days she was such an avid and accomplished ice skater, her husband bought them a house near a lake so she could keep skating. She did, and even taught the whole family how to skate. She delighted in being a busy mom, was devoted to her children, and she often joined her husband, Mel, an accomplished amateur golfer, at his many tournaments.
When her husband took ill, she took on the dual responsibilities of head of the household and sole breadwinner, launching a whole new career as an associate at a curtain company in Plymouth to support the family and care for her husband. Despite the heavy burden she carried, she never complained and worked tirelessly to provide for everyone while using humor to ward off self pity and keep the home fires burning. No matter how bad things got during those long days of working both inside and outside the home, when one of the kids would crash the car, or the roof leaked in the middle of the night, whenever she was asked how she was, her signature and steely response was “fine, fine, fine.” She was the epitome of grit and grace, believing laughter was the best medicine and love conquers all.
She was also a true and trusted friend to just about everyone she met, and often, was at their bedsides in their final days earning her the nickname "St. Claire." She was an incurable optimist and a steadfast peacemaker, often telling feuding parties, separately, "they've always spoken well of you."
She was beautiful, loving, charming and wickedly funny and countless conversations with her ended in howling gales of laughter. The echoes of that laughter are now shaking the rafters in Heaven and brightening the stars in the sky.
She is survived by her sister, Maureen Leary, and her husband Jack Leary, of Quincy and her brother, Kevin Cook of Florida and his wife, Lois Cook.
In lieu of flowers, Claire simply would have wanted everyone to be kind to each other and hold their loved ones dear.
Private funeral services were held with the Silva Funeral Home of Taunton.
For expressions of sympathy, to sign an online guestbook or to light a memorial candle, visit www.silvafuneralhome.com
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