“I didn’t know I had so many friends”, says Claire Wilson. Claire says that with tongue in cheek as she stands to thank the large gathering of family and friends that crowd Fernie Family Centre Hall.

Everyone is here to congratulate Claire and wish her a happy 90th birthday and enjoy a lovely luncheon prepared by CWL ladies and friends. Father Bart delivers a lovely grace blessing both the food and Claire on this special occasion.
What makes the day special is that most of Claire’s children are here to celebrate the occasion as are her grandchildren and all 21 great grandchildren.

Her son George Wilson says two of the seven children remaining are unable to attend the gathering due to work commitments. He thanked everyone for attending and said of his mother, “she is a wife, a mother, grandmother, sister, friend, neighbour, all of these adjectives apply.

What he doesn’t say is that Claire is a dedicated Catholic, continuously involved with church activities and CWL and a convert to Catholicism when she married Bill Wilson, well known in Fernie for being on staff of Crows Nest Industries and also councilor with the City of Fernie.

Bill and Claire had nine children and called Fernie home for most of their life together living in a big house on Fourth Avenue close to downtown and then moving to a smaller home on the same avenue just blocks away. George says Claire grew up between Cranbrook, Canal Flats and Yaak, then asks his mom, “Where did you meet dad? Claire responds quickly “On a blind date, I was in Fernie with friends”.

Joking he adds that “The reason Mom looks as good as she looks is because the kids were so good, she had an easy life. Mom said that raising kids when they were small was easy.” Claire says “Raising teenagers in the seventies was a nightmare”. Everyone laughs as they know there was a period of time when life was rather difficult for Claire and her family. Claire lost Bill and two of her sons and for anyone raising teens in the seventies they understand that it was anything but easy.

George says he has requested each sibling to recount a favorite memory of their mom. He began by saying how his dad would pile the kids in the car and take them to Grave Lake for a week at a time. “Dad would leave and come back on the weekend. There was no electricity or water but mom never complained”. “We would stay all summer, those were holidays, says Claire.

Stafford recalls the milk delivery man knocking on the door one morning and being more than a little surprised to hear his mom call out“ Come on in Honey”, not realizing at that time that the milkman’s name was Honey Rothel.

Mary remembered the trips they took together, traveling to Mexico and Hawaii. She said that at age ten she had five brothers but she really wanted a sister and she was so happy when her sister Annie was born. Susan recalls how much she enjoyed helping her mom bring out the fancy china and silverware for special dinners and Billy jokes about sitting in the car with his siblings waiting for their parents and how they would come out with pop and chips and he thought that this meant that they would be going home but no, the parents had found more friends so they would be socializing longer and that meant the kids had to wait some more. Others shared memories as well and then Happy Birthday was sung and cake cut and served.

Claire Wilson is long admired for her sophisticated look. At ninety she still looks fantastic. But aside from her elegant physical appearance Claire is admired for her resilience and excellent attitude about life. Regardless of loss or hardship Claire has always faced life with a smile.

Congratulations Claire, Happy Birthday and Best Wishes for many more birthdays.

Claire and Bill