Claire Esther Koeppen Shary

Claire Koeppen Shary passed away surrounded by the love of her children on March 23, 2025 in the care of Capital City hospice and the loving staff at Willow Brook Christian Home in Columbus, Ohio. Claire was married for nearly seventy years to Columbus businessman, financial executive and philanthropist, the late John M. Shary.

Born in Marion, Ohio to Edward W. “John” and Esther Koeppen, Claire grew up with her beloved older brother, Jack, in a small town filled with close friendships and good neighbors, centered on family and church, work and school. After graduating from Marion Harding High School, Claire attended St. Luke’s Hospital School of Nursing in Cleveland, Ohio, receiving her R.N. degree in 1951. She then embarked on the adventure of traveling solo by train across the continental United States to Anchorage, Alaska to join her new husband, John, at the army base where he was serving as a Russian translator during the Korean War. She began her thirty-four-year career in nursing while there, at Anchorage General Hospital, working in labor and delivery, and in the nursery.

Following their Army service, Claire and John returned to Ohio and made their home over the next decades in Columbus, Upper Arlington, and Dublin. Claire’s rich and full life was always busy with raising her family of six children, often with the help of her mother, and continuing to practice nursing, pursuing her charitable and creative interests, and supporting her children’s sports and artistic activities. She volunteered for many local nonprofits, including radio broadcasting for VOICEcorps (Reading for the Blind), serving as a docent at the Columbus Museum of Art and, for twenty-three years, at the Columbus Zoo, where she especially loved working with the great apes and was a columnist for the newsletter. Always curious and nurturing a love of learning, during “retirement,” Claire pursued a paralegal degree at Franklin University, and a B.S. in nursing as well.

In 1985 she accompanied her husband John to the People’s Republic of China when he led a delegation of American business professionals on a three-week economic management and cultural exchange sponsored by the national People to People program, a highlight of her many travels. She also enjoyed playing ragtime and classical piano (she had learned from her mother, who played piano for silent movies as her after-school job), painting, writing children’s books, and singing in community choirs, and was an avid fan of popular music, especially of the legend, Tony Bennett, and of grand opera, especially of the great Luciano Pavarotti and Montserrat Caballé. She read voraciously, everything from historical fiction and detective novels to the classics, kept up with newspapers and current events, and played team tennis at the Swim and Racquet Club. In later life, she enjoyed the camaraderie at the Hilliard Senior Center along with her husband (who organized the original pickle ball program there), and became an avid bridge and euchre player, and was a regular participant in the exercise and yoga programs with her many friends, for whom she always had time.

Claire was preceded in death by her husband of nearly seventy years in 2020, and by her son, Steve, in 2019. She will be deeply missed by her daughters Teresa, Cara, Linda, and Rhonda Shary, and Laura Shary-Guzzo; nephew Ed Koeppen; sons-in-law Jack Fleming, Tom Griesemer, Jeffery Logan, and Lewis Creekmore; five grandchildren Justin and Jared Guzzo, Sylvan Creekmore, Ryan Shary, and Madeline Logan; four great-grandchildren; sisters-in-law Rita Shary and Alreda Shary; and her beloved cousins, nieces and nephews, and treasured friends.

A memorial service officiated by The Reverend Mary Kate Buchanan of First Community Church will be held at the Northwest Chapel of Schoedinger Funeral Homes, 1740 Zollinger Road in Upper Arlington, Ohio on Saturday, April 26, 2025, to begin at 11:00 a.m. with a lunch reception to follow. To view the service, please visit https://view.oneroomstreaming.com/index.php?data=MTc0NjUzNjU0MDM2MTQxOCZvbmVyb29tLWFkbWluJnZpZXdfYnV0dG9u

In addition to or in lieu of flowers, donations in Claire’s memory may be made to First Community Church, the Hilliard Senior Center, the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium, Capital City Hospice, and Willow Brook Christian Home in Columbus.