Claudia Veronica Morvan, nee Rainville
March 31, 1908 - July 11, 1995
She ran the ship, ruled the roost, called the shots, kept us on the straight and narrow, voted the straight Democratic ticket all her life, wept when FDR died, trembled with us when sirens wailed and a black-out was instigated because rumors of German submarine sightings off the New England coast brought fear and loathing.
She was the oldest of nine children and is survived by her sister Bernadette (88) and brother Joe (99). She loved movies, movie stars, the color red and big band music. She loved to write, and she maintained a prolific correspondence with dozens of service men and women during WWII. She was very proud her oldest daughter seemed to possess musical talent, and especially loved the sound of her young voice singing solo hymns during Sunday Mass.
She didn't live to see the Red Sox win the World Series but I feel certain she knew of the miracle which thrilled all long-suffering fans of the beloved team.
My father loved her and affectionately joked that "She can talk the handle off a pump." (We used well water). She didn't like to cook and passed this aversion on to my sister. She wasn't afraid to speak her mind or write her Congressman. And she loved to laugh, thank God, because I came along during the Great Depression, a time when there wasn't much to smile about.
She was very fond of the image above, a photo taken by a local newspaper to accompany her vivid account of the catastrophic 1938 hurricane which ravaged Long Island and southern New England. She said she thought it made her look "intellectual". She was one of the World's Great Moms.
