Clare Helen McCune

Born in Pittsburgh, PA on August 12, 1930 to John and Helen (Wallace) McKee, Clare attended Carnegie Institute of Technology where she earned a degree in Industrial Design. She married Harry E. McCune, III on September 13, 1952. Clare worked in her field helping to support Harry while he finished his degree. They started their family in Pittsburgh and also lived in Huntington Woods, MI before settling in Fredonia, NY in 1967.

Clare raised six children and was actively involved at both St. Joseph’s Church and the Newman Center at the Fredonia State campus. She volunteered at several local organizations over the years including Brooks Hospital in Dunkirk, NY and had an abiding commitment to the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry. After her children left home she worked for many years teaching GED classes in Dunkirk, NY.

Clare loved travel and visiting with family. In later life she and Harry had the opportunity to travel widely, visiting locales as far flung as Madrid, Moscow, Cairo, Hong Kong and China. She took her last trip with a good friend to Malta in her late seventies. She also spent much time visiting her children and was a devoted and beloved grandmother to her ten grandchildren.

Clare is predeceased by her husband Harry, her older brother Wallace McKee, a grandson Eli McCune Stein and a granddaughter Melissa McCune. She is survived by her brother John (Shirley) McKee, sister Mary (James) Haney and Wallace’s wife Barbara. She will be missed by her six children Kate (Lyn Kelly), Pat (Ed Stein), Dan (Amy), Michael (Lynne), Andrew (Nancy) and Mary (Frank Byrne), as well as grandchildren Aaron McCune Stein, Sara (Jose Rubio) McCune, Rachel McCune, Emma (Matt) Zaccardo, Evan McCune, Colin McCune, Riley McCune, Matthew McCune, Jack Byrne and Liam Byrne.

The family will hold a private memorial service in Michigan. Memorial donations, if desired, may be made to the Chautauqua County Rural Ministry in Dunkirk, NY, or the Memory Support Center at Brecon Village in Saline, MI.