Claire Pinvidic, beloved mother and grandmother, passed away peacefully at the age of 104 on Thursday, April 17, 2025, surrounded by family at Charlotte Stephenson Manor in Adrian, MI. Claire was born on December 18, 1920, in Dunrea, Manitoba, Canada, to Jean and Alphonsine (Pelchat) Boulet. Claire was the second youngest of 15 siblings.
Claire was working in a general store when she met Emile Pinvidic. Emile briefly returned from overseas during WWII to assist his father at their family’s general store. Working together every day for three months, they fell in love. Claire and Emile married in St. Boniface, Manitoba, in September 1945.
They eventually moved from Canada to the United States, settling in Detroit, MI. Emile had become a citizen in 1944, and Claire in 1949. They resided in a four-family flat near the old Tiger Stadium, where they could hear the crowds cheering, especially during night games.
In July 1946, they were blessed with their firstborn daughter, Doris, followed by their second blessing, Louise, in November 1953. It was time to move, as their apartment was getting ‘a little tight’.
They moved to a three-bedroom bungalow home in Inkster. Claire helped ‘stretch’ the family budget by making the children’s clothes, knitting gloves in the winter, and planting a large garden in the summer. Then, 10 years after Louise was born, they were blessed a third time with the birth of Annette in December 1963.
During those years, Claire worked a few outside jobs (one of them was at Kinney Shoes), but most of the time she worked at home as a homemaker raising her three girls. A few years after Emile retired, Claire, Emile, and Annette moved to Tecumseh in 1976, where Annette finished out her high school years.
Claire enjoyed cooking and was very talented with needlework. She made many treasured knitted, crocheted, and quilted pieces over the years. She had a great sense of humor and loved to win playing cards. In her later years, she was determined to stay active, always walking the halls first in her apartment complex, and then at Charlotte Stephenson Manor. She certainly made an impression on all who knew her, and she will be greatly missed.
Claire is survived by her daughters Doris (Tas) Foley, Louise Allie, and Annette (Tim) Wegman, and 6 grandchildren: Chuck (Juli) Kelterborn, Cheryl (JT) Taylor, Alan Allie, Elizabeth Wegman, Melinda (Jarod) VanWagoner, and Matthew Wegman. She has nine great-grandchildren, Madison (Wyatt), Samantha, Caleb, Elijah, Jordan, Levi, Smith, Remi, and Evelyn, and one great-great-grandson, Theodore. She was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Emile, in July of 2000, and all of her siblings.
Claire’s family would like to give a special thank you to her caregivers at Charlotte Stephenson Manor and Hospice of Lenawee (especially her friend Danielle). Everyone at both places loved Claire, and her family knew she was very well taken care of.
Funeral Mass for Claire will be held at 12:00 p.m. Monday, April 28, 2025 with
Rev. Fr. Daniel Wheeler officiating at St. Elizabeth Church, Tecumseh, MI.
Burial will follow at Brookside Cemetery in Tecumseh.
Visitation will also be held Monday, April 28, 2025 at St. Elizabeth Catholic Church, Tecumseh, from 11:00 a.m. until the time of funeral mass.
In lieu of flowers, a donation in her name can be made to Hospice of Lenawee.