Claire Doris Rankin Lewis

October 30,1934 – April 22, 2026

Claire, like her father, was born in downtown Los Angeles. But while Sam was born in his mother’s bed in 1910, Claire was born in the state-of-the-art California Hospital on S. Hope St.

She started kindergarten at the age of four at Elysian Heights Elementary School in Echo Park (taking the public stairs at the top of Lemoyne Street by herself, passing a scary dog every day on the way to and from). The family moved to the new suburb of Bell where Claire attended Corona Avenue Elementary and Bell High. The family later moved to Monrovia where she attended “M.A.D.” High (Monrovia, Arcadia, Duarte), graduating in 1952.

Claire went on to attend Westmont College in Santa Barbara where she was student body social chairman. She loved to tell us stories of the school parties she planned, including a Mardi Gras themed event of which she was especially proud. She graduated in 1956 with a B.A. in psychology and her teaching certificate. She first taught in Oxnard, where her boys would draw pictures of her car, complete with fins. She later taught in Duarte.

Married in 1959, Claire became the mother of two and continued teaching, beginning a 27-year career with the Placentia Unified School District in 1967 and retiring in 1994. She spent nearly all those years focused on helping children with learning difficulties. Claire was a master at discovering each child’s unique learning style.

Mid-career, Claire went back to school and earned her Master’s in family and child therapy from Cal State Fullerton. She applied what she learned in her work with her students, who called themselves “Claire’s kids.”

She was quick to laugh and deeply interested in people. She knew all her children’s friends and often became a second mom to them. She was devoted to family and friends. She attended church regularly for much of her life and was a lifelong progressive voter.

One of her early loves was music. She studied piano and sang with the Jubilee Trio that performed in churches throughout Southern California. She was a second soprano and could always find her part just by listening to the alto and soprano. Her love for music never faded. She consistently purchased season tickets to the opera – first attending with her mom; later with her daughter.

Claire was also a little bit of a tomboy. In fact, the main reason she stopped studying piano is that she too often heard the boys playing football in the street while she was practicing on the keyboard. She ended up quitting piano and joining the boys. Ultimately, her sport was tennis. She served as captain of her high school tennis team and even played a little college tennis. She also continued her athleticism when she retired, becoming a bit of a “gym rat” for a few years—complete with trainer.

A later passion was travel. First, though, she had to overcome a terrible fear of flying. Luckily, airplane disaster movies were à la mode at the time. Claire’s strategy was to watch every one of them to desensitize herself. It worked. She traveled with friends and often her family.

After she retired, Claire discovered a new passion: writing—any kind—prose, poetry, fiction. She first used her powers of observation to write vignettes about her family and friends. She went on to write poetry and was twice published in Decision magazine, earning an award from them in 1999. She also drafted a semi-autobiographical novella that includes some of her more dramatic life moments.

Claire is survived by her sister Nelda, daughter Terry, son Randy, grandson Gabriel, and many nieces and nephews.