Claire W. Smith

Claire Theresa (Wood) Smith was born in Boston August 8, 1935, the youngest child of the late Clarence and Alice (Eichwald) Wood. She lived and attended school in Roslindale and was a graduate of the Chandler School.

In the 1950s she went to work as a secretary at the Shawmut Bank in Boston. This would be a life-changing experience. There she met Marie (DiNardo) King and Mary Joan (Regan) McCarthy. They would remain close friends for the rest of their lives. Her supervisor, Al Jenkins, had a friend named Bob Smith, whom Claire met and married in 1960. They were married until Bob's death in 1993. The couple first settled in Quincy and then moved to Marshfield in 1965.

Claire remained in Marshfield for the rest of her life.

Claire spent the late 1960s and 1970s as the first and most beloved teacher of her children. She reentered the workforce in the 1980s, first as a kitchen worker in the Marshfield Public School system. She worked as a secretary at an insurance company from 1985 until her retirement in 2015.

She inherited a love of reading from her father, which she passed on to her children. The summer was not complete without a stack of books by her side on the porch. She was a born explorer. One of her favorite traditions was the birthday trip. She celebrated her birthday and her children with a day trip (or two) to somewhere interesting. By the time of her death, these trips included most of the historic sites in Boston and eastern Massachusetts, and eventually Rhode Island and Connecticut. She was the type who was happy to take a long trip on short notice. The trips were great adventures, sometimes epic misadventures, and always the source of funny stories retold at family gatherings. And it was never hard to talk her into going out for ice cream.

Although age and medical difficulties slowed her down in later years, they could not stop her or dim her spirit. In her two hospital stays at the end of her life, she was the most popular patient in the ward. She died after a brief illness on January 18, 2026.

She is survived by her two sons, Robert W. Smith, Jr. of Marshfield and Matthew W. Smith of Somerville, by numerous nieces and nephews, grand nieces and nephews, and great grand nieces and nephews, and by all those she touched on a daily basis.

Services on Tuesday, January 27, 2026 will begin with a wake from 9:00 to 10:00 a.m. at the MacDonald Funeral Home, 1755 Ocean Street in Marshfield. The Funeral Mass will then be celebrated at 10:30 a.m. at St. Christine Parish Church, 1295 Main Street in Marshfield, followed by burial in the Milton Cemetery.

In lieu of flowers, donations in Claire’s memory can be made to South Shore Hospital Foundation, 55 Fogg Road, Box 72, South Weymouth, MA 02190 or online at: https://www.southshorehealth.org/give

For online guest book, driving directions and other helpful information please visit the website macdonaldfuneralhome.com