Claire Bassett

Clarissa "Claire" A. Bassett, 98, of Lewiston, N.Y., formerly of Chippewa Township, died Friday, Aug. 3, 2007, in Our Lady of Peace Care Home in Lewiston, N.Y.

Born Jan. 5, 1909, in Olean, N.Y., a daughter of the late Leon and Minnie Mae Flagg Persing, she was a graduate of Alfred University, the State University of New York at Geneseo and the University of Pittsburgh. She was a teacher and a librarian and had been a librarian in the Big Beaver Falls Area High School. She was instrumental in establishing the elementary school libraries for the Blackhawk School District. She was a member of the Chippewa United Methodist Church and had been active in AAUW, Outlook Club and the Alfred University Alumni Association.

In addition to her parents she was preceded in death by a son, Gary Lee Bassett, in 1983; her husband, Robert B. Bassett, in 1985; a sister, Luraina Robbins, and three brothers, John, Douglas and Gerald Persing.

She is survived by a daughter and son-in-law, Betty A. Bassett and Roy E. Metcalfe, St. Anns, Ontario, Canada; a granddaughter and her husband, Renee and Phillip Taylor; a great-granddaughter, Hannah Clarissa Taylor, all of Hamilton, N.Y.

Visitation will be Wednesday from 5 to 8 p.m. in the HILL & KUNSELMAN FUNERAL HOME, 3801 Fourth Ave., College Hill, Beaver Falls, where a service will be held Thursday at 11 a.m. with her pastor officiating.

Interment will follow in Sylvania Hills Memorial Park, Daugherty Township.

Memorial contributions may be made, if desired, to the Chippewa United Methodist Church Memorial Fund, 2545 Darlington Rd., Beaver Falls, Pa. 15010 or to the American Heart Association, 5455 N. High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43214.