Claire Claudia Bouchard, 89, formally of 269 Pleasant Street in Claremont, died October 28, 2011 at the Sullivan County Health Care Center.

She was born in Nashua, NH, on May 11, 1922, the daughter of Oscar P. and Emma C. (Messier) Bissonnette.  She was a resident of Nashua, Manchester and, the last 43 years, Claremont, NH.

She was educated in Nashua and graduated from Nashua Senior High School in 1942. She was senior class Vice-President and graduated in the top ten of her class.  In 1945, she was Valedictorian of her graduating class from the Saint Joseph’s School of Nursing in Nashua, NH. A profession of which she was very proud and loved.

She nursed briefly at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Memorial Hospital and many years at Saint Clare’s Hospital in New York City.  She also worked at Massachusetts General Hospital,

Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Lowell, MA, and for 10 years at the Elliott Hospital in Manchester, NH.

Mrs. Bouchard was an active member of St. Mary’s Church and for some fifteen years a volunteer teachers aid at St Mary School.

A happy and proud homemaker, she enjoyed crafts, painting, and music. While in New York City, she attended all the great shows and musicals of the era.

She is predeceased by her parents and her brother, Ernest Bissonnette, who passed away in 2002.

The surviving family includes her husband of 57 years, Dr. Joseph A. Bouchard, of Claremont, NH, her son, David P. Bouchard of Miami, FL, her daughter, Celeste M. Bouchard of Boston, MA., her grandchildren, David Joseph, of Philadelphia, PA., Michael Edward, Danielle Marie and Jason Taylor all of Pinecrest (Miami) FL, her brothers, Paul Bissonnette, and his wife Florence of Escondido, CA., and Raymond Bissonnette, and his wife Patricia, of Nashua, NH and numerous nephews and nieces.

Friends may call at the Stringer Funeral Home, 146 Broad Street in Claremont on Monday evening, Oct. 31^st  from 5 to 7 P.M.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated Tuesday, Nov. 1^st at Eleven O’clock in St. Mary Church, Claremont, NH with Rev. Father Shawn M. Therrien, Pastor officiating.

Interment will be Wednesday at 11AM in the St Aloysius Cemetery in Nashua.

Donations may be made to St Mary’s Parish Building Fund 32 Pearl St Claremont, NH 03743 or Connecticut Valley Home Care/Hospice,   958 John Stark Highway, Newport, NH  03773-2609 or Sullivan County Health Care -  McConnell Unit   5 Nursing Home Drive Unity, NH  03743.