HANSON, Claire (Roulston) (Dowey) - Claire died in Toronto, Canada on January 16, 2021.
She was cared for by her husband and children as her body and mind succumbed to symptoms of dementia.
John, Joanne, Lesley and Andrew are heartbroken at the loss of this most fabulous woman
Eleanor Isabel 'Nell' Roulston was Mum to David Roulston, Claire Roulston and Tom Corran. Nell, David and Claire lived at Seawards, the red roofed house on the cliffs overlooking White Rocks, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland which Nell had designed and built to her specifications.
After the WWII they moved to Bangor, County Down, to 26 Ballyholme Rd. and in 1951 moved to 23 Moira Park where Tom joined the family and where Nell lived with Claire and her family until Nell died in 1976.
Claire attended Coombehurst School, Glenlola and Methody. Her athletic ability flourished and she played on the field hockey team, won awards for swimming and diving and became an avid sailor. She experienced many adventures and much travel with the 2nd Bangor Guides in the late fifties. Claire Roulston was one of the “Terrible Four” with Rosaleen Campbell, Diane McDowell and Pat McMullen.
Claire met Eric Dowey in 1963 and they married in 1965. They had three children, Joanne, Lesley and Andrew and divorced in 1981.
It was on holiday in Lymington visiting her brother David where Claire met John Hanson, a Professor of Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada. So began a long distance courtship involving letters, tape recordings, phone calls and the eye rolling of her children.
She bet on herself and packed up her three children and emigrated to Kitchener, Ontario, Canada in May 1982. Claire and John married in August 1982, and so began a 39 year marriage filled with sailing, travel and friends, much joy, irreverence and laughter. John was the love of Claire’s life.
Claire loved nothing more than a get together where the craic was great and she was often in the middle of it maintaining a ridiculous sense of humour her entire life.
{fastsocialshare