EWING Clarissa

1927 ~ 2013
On March 24, 2013, Clarissa C. (Claire) Ewing of Lethbridge, Alberta, beloved wife of Sherm, passed peacefully at age 85 after a short illness with cancer.
Claire was the fourth of five children born to Harold and Constance Clement of Buffalo, NY. After a happy childhood in upstate New York and a cherished education at Westover School in Connecticut, she married Sherm Ewing in August of 1950 while both were working at the Circle 8 ranch near Choteau, Montana. Claire had taken a summer job as chore-girl to learn about life in the west.
After a honeymoon pack-trip in the Rockies, the couple took a job on a California ranch, where Claire again thrived. Three years later they were back on the northern plains, where Sherm hired on as manager of the 3C Bar ranch 20 miles east of Browning. This was higher education for both.
In 1955, by now with 3 kids under 4, they bought the SN ranch in the Porcupine Hills west of Claresholm, Alberta, where they spent “the best years of their lives” as they both often said, raising their family surrounded by good grass and cattle and the best neighbors in the world.
In 1983, with daughters Wanina and Leslie both married, son Charlie and his bride Sherry took over the ranch, while Claire and Sherm retired to Montana with plans to promote the Beefbooster breeding system and Alberta bulls. They remained dedicated members of the Society for Range Management, the Western Stock Growers Association and the Stockmen’s Memorial Foundation in Alberta.
A lifetime Anglican/Episcopalian, Claire supported her church wherever she lived. She loved home-making and gardening. She loved her family and her dogs. She loved sports, especially figure-skating and riding in her youth; tennis, swimming, hiking and skiing as she aged; and physical fitness workouts into her eighties.
In 2009 they returned to Alberta to reside in Lethbridge closer to family.
Claire is survived by her two daughters Wanina (Travis) of Claresholm, AB and Leslie (Wayne) Kriz of Rimbey, AB; her son Charles (Sherry) of Claresholm, AB; her 7 grandchildren Katey (Jay) Dahlstrom of Meridian, Idaho, Candace Travis of Calgary, Calvin Ewing of Calgary, Lonni (Dan) Robley of Sylvan Lake, AB, Ben Kriz of Montreal, PQ, Joe Kriz of Calgary, and Jeff Kriz of Calgary; one great-grandchild Emily Claire Dahlstrom of Meridian, ID; Claire is survived by her sister Constance “Petie” (Andy) Leslie of Edgartown, MA one brother Laurence (Sheila) Clement of Manhattan, KA. She was predeceased by her parents Harold and Constance Clement of Buffalo, NY; sister Marion “Manny” Curnen of Chapel Hill, NC and NYC and brother Harold Clement Jr of Buffalo, NY.
A Memorial Service will be held at 2:00pm on April 8, 2013 at St. Augustine’s Anglican Church | 411 – 11th St. South, Lethbridge, AB, with Reverend Canon James Robinson officiating.
Flowers are gratefully declined. Memorial donations especially welcome to St. Michael’s Palliative Care Centre, 1400 9th Ave S., Lethbridge AB T1J 4V5 or St. Augustine’s Church Memorial Fund, 411 11th St. South, Lethbridge, AB T1J 2N9.
Send condolences at www.mbfunerals.com.
Martin Bros. Funeral Chapels Ltd.
610 – 4 Street South
Lethbridge, AB T1J 4P3
Phone: (403)328-2361 Fax: (403)382-3623
Toll Free: 1-800-382-2901
www.mbfunerals.com