Claire Irene Clutts

Claire Irene Lambert was born to Roseanne and Edward Lambert on August 18, 1930 in Fall River, Massachusetts. She passed away on March 11, 2021 at the age of 90. Survivors include her daughter, Linda Papageorge, her son-in-law, Thomas Papageorge, her grandson, TC and his wife Lauren Papageorge, grandson Steven and his wife Marie-France Papageorge and great granddaughters, Ava, Ella, Harper, Isabella, Penelope, and Luciana Papageorge. Claire was the youngest of 14 children but only 7 survived, 6 boys and 1 girl. The one girl was Claire. Being the only girl, she was adored by her parents and siblings. The family moved to South Berwick, Maine, having lost their home during the great depression. Their house was located on the town farm on Nights Pond Road. It was one very large home on a farm with many farm animals. Not only did the family live there but they also took in borders who had no money to live elsewhere. At the age of 18, she met and married the love of her life, Raymond Albert Clutts, on April 23, 1949, who was at the time a PFC in the Marine Corps. Their first born, Gordan Raymond was born on February 13, 1950. 8 years later, her daughter, Linda Colleen was born on January 6, 1958. In her earlier years, she worked as a vendor in the military exchanges for C Lloyd Johnson. Claire was a devoted wife and mother. However, her love for her 2 grandsons was beyond imaginable. TC was born on Sept. 11, 1982 and Steven was born on April 3, 1985. She and Ray could not spend enough time with those 2 boys, always available to babysit or have them spend the night at their house. They played endlessly with the boys and attended all their sporting events as they grew older. Once both boys married, she was blessed to have 6 new great baby girls to dote on, Ava, Ella, Harper, Isabella, Penelope, and Luciana. She loved having all the girls with her. She could hold them for hours, reading books and playing games with them in her lap. She was affectionately named Gigi by her great granddaughters. Gigi loved working on jigsaw puzzles, even in her final days and we would often find a great granddaughter by her side lending a hand to put in that final puzzle piece. As Claire’s health began to fail, she was cared for at home by her daughter, Linda and was surrounded by her family in her final days. She will forever live on in our hearts and her endless love will always be a part of us. A memorial service will be held on March 18, 2021 from 5-8pm at Murphy’s Funeral Home in Falls Church, Va. She will be buried at 10am on March 19, 2021 at the Quantico National Cemetery beside her husband, Ray. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Capital Caring Health in memory of Claire Clutts. (PO Box 1576, Merrifield, Va. 22116-1576)