Sister Claire Daneau, CSC (Sister Mary of St. Claire), 89, of the Sisters of Holy Cross died January 6, 2014.
Born in Manchester on February 3, 1924, she was the daughter of Lorenzo and Marie Anne (Cadorette) Daneau. Sister Claire earned a BA from Notre Dame College in Manchester and also received an Honorary Degree from St. Leo’s University in Florida.
Sister Claire entered the Congregation of the Sisters of Holy Cross in 1941 and made her final profession in 1948. She served the Congregation for 73 years.
For twenty-seven years, Sister taught elementary parochial schools under the direction of the Sisters of Holy Cross in Manchester, Rochester, and Somersworth. In 1970, Sister Claire was sent as a missionary to Haiti. She spent thirty-six years serving the poorest of the poor. While in Haiti, Sister opened a Trade School for street children, a home for the needy and an orphanage.
Sister retired at St. George’s Manor in December of 2005 and was transferred to the Holy Cross Health Center in October of 2007.
She is survived by her sisters, Therese Page of Palm Bay, FL, Patricia Pelletier of Glendora, CA, Rolande Poirier of North Attleboro, MA, Agnes Watcher of Del Haven, NJ, Annette Bouffard of Somerville, ME, Madeleine Jesanes of Springhill, FL, and Claire Dziadiel of Vernon, CT; her brothers, Gerald Daneau of Seekonk, MA, Leo Daneau, of Attleboro, MA, Paul Daneau of Panama City, FL, John Daneau of Warwick, RI; several nephews, nieces, and cousins. She was predeceased by her sister Lorraine Vincent.
A Mass of Christian burial was celebrated on Thursday, January 9, 2014 in St. George Manor Chapel. Burial was in St. Augustin Cemetery.
Donations may be made for the Orphanage Project in Haiti, care of Sisters of Holy Cross, 377 Island Pond Road, Manchester, NH 03109.