Claire Olivito Gomez, a 48 year resident of Ridgewood, New Jersey passed away with grace after a long illness on June 24, 2020 at the age of 85. Claire was born on March 5, 1935 in Clarksburg, West Virginia. She was the 8th of 14 children and came to New Jersey in 1950 at the age of 15 with most of her family. Claire attended Passaic Valley High School and then went on to Montclair State Teachers College majoring in Spanish. Claire met her beloved Fernando while on the college fencing team. They married the fall of her senior year in 1956. She learned to swim, drive and ski early in her married life with Fern as they raised 3 children in Ridgewood. Claire was coined “a master teacher” at Paramus High School where she taught Spanish to many adoring students for 27 years until her retirement in 1998. After her teaching career, Claire continued to tutor, spend time with her family, tended to her garden, traveled, and enjoyed the arts in NYC. Holidays were spent in New England and the winter months in Marco Island, FL with Fernando. Claire loved her church, Mount Carmel, and attended daily Mass most of her life. Predeceased by her husband Fernando H. Gomez, her parents Josephine and Biagio Olivito, and 7 sisters and brothers, Mary, Angela, Jean, Ginny, Frank, Joe and Florina. Claire is survived by her siblings Bill (Severina), Tony (Lorraine), Belinda (Len), Benny (Jill), Sammy (Sarah) and Phyliss (Joe). She is also survived by her children Steven, Christine (John) Michael (Valerie) and Grandchildren, Michael Battaglia (Kyra), Caitlin Jane Russell (Rod), Christopher Battaglia, Dane Gomez, Dylan Gomez, Isabella Gomez and great grandson Jaxon Russell. Claire touched many lives, always remembering a face, a name and one’s personal story. Claire lit up a room and was known for her ready smile. She was creative, talented, and a generous fun loving spirit. Blessed with a full and rich life, a loving family, wonderful friends, colleagues and treasured neighbors, Claire was a gift and will be held in our hearts and remembered forever.
Visitation will be held Monday, July 6, 2020 from 4:00pm to 8:00pm at Feeney Funeral Home, 232 Franklin Avenue, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.
Services to celebrate and honor Claire O. Gomez will be held July 7, 2020 at 10am at Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 1 Passaic Street, Ridgewood, NJ 07450.
Donations in Claire Gomez’s name can be made to ALSAC/ST. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, 501 St. Jude Place, Memphis, TN 38105 or at www.stjude.org.
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If you will be attending the visitation or Funeral Mass, masks or face coverings will be mandatory. Please practice social distancing while inside the funeral home or church.
OUR VISITATION POLICY & PROCEDURES
We will allow 33 people at a time into the funeral home. You MUST be wearing a mask to enter, and masks must be worn AT ALL TIMES. Every 1/2 hour, we will clear the funeral home of guests (not family), sanitize, and reopen for 33 more guests. The sanitizing will take approximately 5 minutes each time. Inside the funeral home there are tape marks on the floor to promote social distancing, and there will be an orderly line to pay your respects. There will be a one way flow of visitors as entry is allowed only through the front door and exiting only through the back door. Once a visitor leaves they are not permitted back into the building.
If you are unable to attend the Funeral Mass please honor Claire's memory from the safety of your own home. Live streaming of the Funeral Mass will be available on Tuesday 7/7/2020 at 10:00 AM.
OLMC web site live Mass streaming:
http://www.olmcridgewood.com/
OLMC Facebook page (direct link to post) live Mass streaming:
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=787283158472504
OLMC Youtube Channel live Mass streaming:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cg57E9VWg2o