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Claire Rosaleen Kelly Obituary
It is with deep sadness and much love that we announce the passing of Claire Rosaleen Kelly on Friday, November 8, 2024, peacefully in her home in her 90th year. She will be deeply missed by her devoted daughters Claire Elizabeth (Nicholas) and Mari Catherine; her loving grandchildren, Julian and James; her sister, Sally (Ken) of Surrey, England; her brother-in-law Francis (Margrit) of Zurich, Switzerland; her sister-in-law, Martha of Kirkcaldy, Scotland; and her many beloved Irish, Scottish, English, and American relatives. Predeceased by her brothers Tony, Peter (Mary), her eldest sister Betty (George), her nephew Tony (Mary), and her parents, Elizabeth Peppard and James Murphy. Claire’s passing frees her from illness and reunites her soul with that of her late loving husband, Laurence Alexander. May they rest in peace for eternity.
Born, March 3, 1935, in Tullow, Co. Carlow, Ireland, the youngest of five children, Claire’s youth was spent tending to animals and ultimately, helping to run the large family farm and homestead, ‘Roscatt’. These formative years instilled her lifelong reverence for creatures great and small, for the beauty of natural spaces, and for the cadence of life. It seemed apt that she would pursue nursing, earning midwifery and RN credentials from Mercer’s hospital, Coombe, Dublin.
Claire’s adventurous spirit led her to Canada in 1960 and the centre of her new world–Kingston, Ontario. Here she met Laurence, a Queen’s Ph. D candidate from Scotland, and they began a new journey together. She worked as a nurse at Ongwanada and Rideaucrest, but ultimately found her calling at Kingston General Hospital, in the Operating Room as a surgical nurse, where she was driven by purpose and found life-long friendships across hundreds of cases in her 35-year career.
Claire was a believer in strong communities and was actively engaged in sundry organizations. She served as president of the Kingston Skating Club, volunteered for over 10 years at the KGH Museum of Health Care, and many years with Ongwanada, where she remained devoted to their work until the very end of her life.
With the exception of the “NYC years,” a two-year foray in Manhattan and Brooklyn when Laurence worked for AT&T, Claire was a proud Canadian and a loyal Kingstonian. She loved her chosen neighbourhood, where she lived and raised her family, nestled deep amid the wildlife, woods, and creeks of the surrounding Cataraqui conservation area. This was her happiest place and she had the privilege of calling her neighbours, friends.
A voracious reader and letter writer, she never missed a great book, a newspaper, a crossword, or an opportunity for a Hallmark moment. She prioritized her daughters’ education, encouraging them to study and travel for understanding and perspective. She was avidly aware of global events and credited her dual citizenship with this interest in politics and people. She was social, engaged and thoughtful until her final hour.
Her friends and colleagues admired her for her strength of character, her determination, her unwavering resilience, and her ability to connect with others. Yet, Claire was modest, humble and pragmatic. Often called ‘brave,’ she would say it was in her blood, borne of her stubborn independence, and her Irish upbringing. She was proud of the challenges she had overcome, including losing her own mother at age 10, being a left-handed student in rural Ireland’s school system, and being compelled to drive the tractors and manage the farm at age 12. These were some of the qualities that helped defy chronic illness and enjoy every day in the latter years.
We will miss her terribly. And we are proud of the legacy and deep imprint she leaves.
A funeral mass will be held on November 21, 2024 at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, 392 Palace Road, Kingston at 1pm followed by private interment at St. Mary’s Roman Catholic Cemetery. Family and friends are invited to a reception at the River Mill at 2:30 pm.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her memory to any of the following organizations: Kingston Humane Society, Sandy Pines Wildlife Centre, Napanee, or St. Vincent de Paul, Kingston.
“What we once enjoyed and deeply loved we can never lose, For all that we love deeply becomes a part of us.” – Helen Keller
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March 3 1935
November 8 2024
Death notice for the town of: Kingston, Province: Ontario
death notice Claire Rosaleen Kelly March 3 1935
November 8 2024
obituaries notice Claire Rosaleen Kelly March 3 1935
November 8 2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Claire Rosaleen Kelly March 3 1935
November 8 2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
