Claire Forster Latham, passed away peacefully on April 30th, 2024 with her daughter by her side at her home, in Glenaire of Cary, NC. Born on January 18th, 1931, the daughter of Herbert Webster and Greta Voelcker Forster, she grew up in Rockville Centre, L.I., NY, graduating from The Hewlett School in East Islip, L.I., in 1949. After receiving her B.A. degree from the University of Rochester in 1953, Claire, known from childhood as Wink (Winkie), became a caseworker with the Suffolk County (L.I.) Child Welfare Department. She returned to this position after a three-year residence in Bethesda, MD, following her marriage to Harry George Latham, Jr., in 1955. The couple spent the next thirty-eight years in East Patchogue, L.I., near Great South Bay, raising their daughter, Barbara Ann. Claire was a community volunteer and eventually worked in the public library. Following their retirement, the couple relocated to Fearrington Village near Chapel Hill, NC, to be closer to their grandchildren, where they lived for eight years before moving to Glenaire in 2005.
Also known as Nan, Claire was a grandmother by proxy to many beyond her own family. An avid lover of games and puzzles, particularly Solitaire and Wordle on her iPad, she was highly competitive and would stop before she was out of tries rather than risk ruining her streak of x number of games. She had a way with words, both spoken and written, and was dubbed the “poet laureate” of Glenaire after composing many clever and heartfelt verses for a variety of people to mark momentous events in their lives. Claire was active within the Glenaire community, serving as a “Glenaide” to welcome newcomers, playing keyboard in the Bandettes keyboard ensemble, organizing residents to play the piano for other residents in the Assisted Living area, and volunteering for many years both on the Dining Committee and in the gift shop working the register and training new volunteers. In recent years, her driveway became the weekly social hub for neighbors on North Wee Loch Drive, as the “Sunday Sippers” gathered there each Sunday afternoon as weather allowed. Claire also was a 25-year member of the Spirit Ringers handbell choir at First Cary UMC where her daughter was the director; in 2012, she envisioned, organized, and solicited funding from Glenaire residents to create a perpetual scholarship for a graduating senior at the church.
Claire was happiest spending time with her family and friends. She was fiercely independent and resisted accepting help from others. She embodied elegance, had a quick wit, and her selfless nature resulted in friends and family seeking her advice, as she always listened with wise counsel and compassion. As so many have said, “everybody loves Nan”!
Claire is survived by her daughter, Barbara Latham, and son-in-law, Robin Marley, of Cary, and grandchildren, Paige Marley Moser (Jake) of Denver, Colorado and Grant Matthew Marley (Emily Stone) of Washington, DC. She also leaves her beloved feline companion, Roxie. Her husband, George, her parents, and her sister, Virginia Forster Joyce, predeceased her.
A celebration of life will be held in the Glenaire Auditorium at 2pm on Friday, May 24th, 2024. Remembrances may be made to a charity of one’s preference.
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