Clare Breen Obituary

Clare Russell: Newspaper Obituary and Death Notice

Peoria Journal Star, The (IL) – Friday, April 12, 2002
Deceased Name: Clare Russell
BRADFORD – Clare Breen Russell, 85, of Long Boat Key, Fla., formerly of Bradford and Tiskilwa, died Sunday, March 31, 2002, at her residence.
Born Oct. 19, 1916, in Bradford to Robert and Nora Hickey Breen, she married Francis Russell in 1939 in Bradford. He died in 1975.
She also was preceded in death by one son, Patrick, two sisters and one brother.
Surviving are two daughters, Paula Hart of Des Moines, Iowa, and Susan Freeman of Minneapolis; one son, Daniel of Villanova, Pa.; two sisters, Rosemary Real of Stow, Ohio, and Margaret Rainey of Venice, Fla.; 10 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
She received a bachelor’s degree in English and journalism from the University of St. Francis in Joliet in 1938.
She wrote the column, ”The Mainstreet Parade,” published in several Bureau County newspapers from 1938 to 1992. She later wrote the column, ”View of the Bay,” for the Long Boat Key Observer.
She also had several poems published in the Chicago Tribune.
She had served on the Tiskilwa Library Board and the Tiskilwa School Board.
She was a former member of St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tiskilwa, where she had taught catechism for many years. She was past president of the Deanery of the Catholic Diocese of Peoria.
Cremation was accorded. A memorial Mass will be at 11 a.m. Tuesday at St. Mary’s Catholic Church. The Rev. Thomas Kelly will officiate. There will be no visitation. Graveside services will follow at St. Mary’s Cemetery in Tiskilwa. Toale Brothers Funeral Home in Sarasota, Fla., is in charge of arrangements.
Memorials may be made to any hospice or to St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Tiskilwa.