Clara (Miller) Weiss

Clara (Miller) Weiss passed away on May 18, in Raleigh, North Carolina. She was 102 years old. Born in New Britain to Nathan and Celia Miller, Clara went to local schools and attended Columbia University’s School of Oral Hygene where she obtained certification as a dental hygienist in 1929. She worked briefly as a dental hygienist in New York before coming back to New Britain. Clara married Irving Weiss of Waterbury on June 18, 1939. Irving was an optometrist whose office was located at 300 Main Street in New Britain. Clara and Irving bought a house on Lincoln Street, and it was there that they brought up two sons, Jonathan and Andrew, who also attended local schools before leaving for college at Columbia and Dartmouth. In 1966 the family moved to Shuttle Meadow Road, where Clara lived until she moved to North Carolina in 2009. Clara was very active in civic affairs. She served on the board of the Red Cross, the Salvation Army and the Family and Child Guidance Center. She was an active member of the Sisterhood at Temple B’Nai Israel in New Britain and of the New Britain chapter of Hadassah. Clara was a gifted pianist, and could play anything by ear with complete harmony. She was also an amazing cook, who was able to make gourmet Kosher meals. She loved entertaining and was noted for her sharp wit and sense of humor. She was an avid reader who had Michener’s “Alaska” and biographies of Franklin Roosevelt. John F. Kennedy and Lyndon Baines Johnson read to her when she could no longer read for herself. Always engaged in politics and the world around her, Clara had been a lifelong member of the Republican party but left it recently because she felt she could no longer support its policies or candidates. Family was of the greatest importance to her and she was a loving and attentive mother, grandmother and aunt. She cared for her mother until her death in 1972 and for her husband until his death in 1998. She survived her siblings Esther Silverbush of New Brunswick, New Jersey, Sidney Miller of Newington, Connecticut and Harry Miller of Branford, Connecticut. Clara leaves her two sons, Jonathan of Sidney, Maine and Dijon, France and Andrew of Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as three grandchildren (Adam of Houston, TX; Gabriel of Swampscott, MA; Daniel of Burlington, VT), three great-grandchildren (Henry, Read, and Sidney), and many nieces, nephews, and cousins. Funeral services will be held on Wednesday, May 23, 2012 at 1:00 PM in the Chapel of the Weinstein Mortuary, 640 Farmington Ave., Hartford with interment following in the Beth Alom Cemetery, Allen St., New Britain. Charitable contributions may be made to the charity of the donor’s choice. For further information, directions, or to sign the guest book for Clara, please visit online at www.weinsteinmortuary.com/funerals.cfm