Claudia Sue Hilaire was born in Salem, Oregon on March 19, 1943 to Frank and Vilda Flack. As an only child, she played the violin and enjoyed summers at the family’s beach cottage at Rockaway, Oregon.

 

After graduating from Cleveland High School in Portland, Oregon, she married her high school sweetheart, Kerry Hilaire, on October 21, 1962.  Kerry and Claudia had 2 daughters, Tamera Kay and Teresa Lea.

 

In 1967, Kerry’s job with the Western International Hotel company took the young family to Colorado Springs, CO. A couple of years later, they moved to Billings, MT, then Bellevue, WA, and finally to Anchorage, AK in 1971. Even though she was a city girl, Claudia always loved Alaska, its majestic mountains, the beautiful terrain, the wild animals (from a good distance), and the charm of frontier life.

 

Kerry died suddenly from an accident in 1976 so Claudia and her two daughters moved back to Portland and bought a duplex with Vilda in the same neighborhood she grew up in.

 

Claudia met and married John Pierson in 1980 and Melisa Louise was born in 1981. Although John and Claudia divorced several years later, they remained friends.

 

Following in her mother’s footsteps, Claudia went to beauty school and had her own beauty salon for a number of years. She retired many years later and enjoyed spending time with her family and beloved yorkie Sophie.

 

Claudia is survived by her daughters, Tamera (and Phil) Prutsman, Teresa (and Ty) Gebhardt, and Melisa Pierson, grandchildren Alexander, Cassandra, Jacob, Joseph, Morgan, Shannon, Carter, and Nicholas, and great-grandchildren Logan, Benjamin, and Callan.