Although Clare never had any children of his own, he had a fatherly way about him. I first noticed it in the way he spoke of the high school students that he had taught - good or bad. He would ask if I knew this person or that person, always remembering a story or two from the time they spent in his drafting or shop classes. He loved teaching, although he may not have readily admitted it, and was so happy when he heard from or about a past student’s successes. In his later retirement he reconnected with old friends and collegues and loved to reminisce about “back then…” He often talked about “Somewhere Else Farm” and the horses that he had raised there. I think that, in a way the horses were his children, he celebrated their victories and was saddened by their defeats, like any parent would be. The dogs and horses running in the pastures and the freedom from city life that the farm allowed was something that I think Clare missed long after he left. Becoming part of a family with two teenage children is, if nothing else, challenging. There were times when I think he just wanted to run far, far away, but he never did. He did his best to help us through thick and thin and ups and downs and managed to bite his tongue (most of the time) when necessary. Clare was always there to help fix a car, give advice about home repairs and renovations and was a shoulder to cry on when life went sideways. His love for Mom was evident in everything he did, doting over her and often arriving home with a gift or fresh flowers for no reason at all. When the grandkids came, Clare beamed, until someone handed him a squirmy little human. Never having changed a diaper or coaxed a burp he wasn’t real sure what to do with babies. So, he would hold them and talk to them for 30 seconds or a minute and then anxiously look around for someone to come and take the darn kid away before it spat or pooped or cried all over him. As the boys all grew up he grew accustom to them and love to help them build, draw and learn about nature and the world around them. Clare had been many places and done many things before he came into our lives. He willingly shared all of his experiences, good and bad, with us. I like to think that his openness was his way of guiding us through the big crazy world. Looking back it is easy to see, but as it happened it was just Clare telling us about another one of his crazy adventures. That, my friends, is the sign of an incredibly gifted teacher. To be able to teach so that the student is unaware that they are being taught.