R.I.P. Clara Himes

Russ Beck — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 21:39:09 +0000

While I was in Orlando, my Great Grandmother sadly passed away. What was weird was that my cousin and I were just talking about her and how she wasn’t doing so well, less than 30 minutes later I got the call. My Great-Grandmother’s first husband, my Great-Grandfather by blood, died in the Battle of the Bulge in 1945. She was born with a heart condition that at the time (1920) killed more than 90% of those born with it, but she lived. She had a stroke in her 80s, and wasn’t supposed to ever move again. One night my Grandmother and Aunt were with her in the hospital and asked God for a sign that we shouldn’t pull the plug, at that moment the power in the Altoona Hospital flickered, went out and came back on…we let her live and she not only moved again, but talked and moved back to her house to live on her own for a few more years until being placed into a home. She once bought coffee from Hooters and only complained that the coffee was cold. She was married for 61 years when my Great-Grandfather died.

I can only hope to live a life as full as she has. Rest in Peace Great-Grammy!

Below is her obituary. I am one of her 23 Great-Grandchildren through her daughter, my Grandmother, Kathleen Glunt.

Clara M. Himes
March 9, 1920 – Jan. 2, 2010

Clara M. Himes, 89, Riggles Gap, died Saturday morning at Valley View Home.

She was born in Altoona, a daughter of the late Charles P. and Clara R. (Oswald) Bettwy. She first married Theodore E. Brobeck Oct. 24, 1936, in Altoona. He was killed in January of 1945, at the Battle of the Bulge. She then married Paul Silas Himes Aug. 2, 1947, at St. Mark’s Church, Altoona. He preceded her in death April 25, 2009.

Surviving are a son, Theodore E. Brobeck and wife, Sonja, of Julian; three daughters: Kathleen M. Glunt and husband, Hank of Riggles Gap, Mary Louise Burton and husband, Dr. Carl Burton, of Gap and Rosene Ann Minster and husband, Larry of Jim Thorpe; 11 grandchildren; 23 great-grandchildren; and a brother, Charles E. Bettwy of Bellwood.

She was preceded in death by a sister, Anna Roberta Bettwy; a brother, Jack Bettwy; and a great-granddaughter, Mikayla Marie Glunt.

Mrs. Himes was a member of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Bellwood. She was also a member of Catholic Daughters of America St. Rita’s Court, Tyrone.

Clara loved shopping and enjoyed traveling.

Friends will be received from 2 to 4 and 6 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010, at Jon C. Russin Funeral Home, Bellwood, where a vigil for the deceased will be held. A funeral Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2010, at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, Bellwood, with the Rev. David H. Roesch as celebrant.

Committal will be held at Logan Valley Cemetery, Bellwood.

For the Glory » R.I.P.

R.I.P. Clara Himes