“Claire The Bear” – Claire Marie Irwin, my mother, passed away in her sleep on Monday, January 6, 2025. Claire Moody Wilson was her birth name, and became Claire Marie Tavares, by marriage, when Marjorie Claire Layman married Carlos Jose Tavares, Sr. in 1943 in San Diego, CA. She is survived by her daughter, me, Jennifer M. Irwin--her sole remaining child and by her step-sister, Carla Cecilia Tavares of Sausalito, CA, and by her step-brother, Carlos Jose Tavares, Jr. of Park City, UT … and, not to be left out, by Alley, her beloved cat. 🌺

In recent years, my mother expressed she did not want a memorial, a notice in the newspaper, or a party thrown in her honor. She did not share with me why she had had a change of heart for my mother Loved a good party and a chance to kick up her heels and have fun. 😀

My intention through these pages: the Memorial page, the Memento page, and the Loved One page is to share with you different aspects of my mother that you may not have known. My mother became a fiercely private person but when she was younger, she relished grand adventures, jet-setting to and fro with famous friends, and never staying in any one place too long.

How do I know about her many adventures that seemed out of a fairy tale? Well, because I lived in most of the grand homes she lived in, spent a lot of time at the same private clubs, attended a few of the same boarding schools she did, had many of the same illustrious family friends, and lived with her, as a youngin, during the summertime where we had fun with famous friends and continued to live in “high society” – dressed to the nines.  😀

As you are reading this, you might be thinking, “How odd. This doesn't seem like a memorial at all.”  And, you are right … it is a bit odd. And, here's why:

My mother was more like my sister, a famous sister. She had given me to her mother, Marjorie Claire Tavares, and to her step-father, Carlos Jose Tavares, who were THE Movers and Shakers, the Influencers of San Diego, La Jolla, and around the world. So, my Grandmother became my mother and my step-grandfather became my father while my mother, Claire Marie Irwin, continued with her life. Sometimes, my mother would blow into town like a whirlwind and whisk me away after I had finished practicing my harp to go horseback riding all through Sorrento Valley in San Diego. What fun we had! My mother Loved horses; I Loved horses. We had commonality and we had great fun talking about Our Favorite Person in the Whole Wide World – her Stepfather, my grampy-- Carlos Jose Tavares, Sr.. Other times, my mother would come and stay for the Holidays. She would help to cook Thanksgiving and Christmas meals while I made sure I set the table for formal dining as my grandmother prepared her many special desserts so all who came would remember the social gathering with fondness and my grampy would take some of his guests to the billiard room for a rousing game … or few … and I, would go back and forth to the kitchen and the billard room, not wanting to miss a second with my mother or my grampy. I felt like Eloise, from the famous children's book series, “Eloise”-- going to and fro. “Eloise” was one of my mother's favorite children's books and it was also one of mine.  😀. 

My mother Loved books and Loved, Loved, Loved going to libraries and bookstores and it was another activity we had in common. One on occasion during an outing to the San Diego Libray, she checked out a slew of historical novels while I checked out Alfred Hitchcock books and then we proceeded to read for the day. Other times, when we would go to bookstores, my mother would pick up books and start reading what struck her fancy while I would browse through all the horse books and animal books I could find – spending hours in the store reading -- with a trip to the nearest ice cream shop after to celebrate our finds.  🎉

But The Most Special of ALL My Memories of My Mother ARE Around the Ocean.

• We would go to the La Jolla Shores Tide Pools. Yes, you read that correctly--Tide Pools. Way back when, there were fish and other life forms of all kinds, shapes, and sizes. It was magical. I would smile from ear to ear when I would show my mother ALL the Sea Horses I had located and she shared my excitement or the times when we would save fish, or the occasional octopus or dolphin from being stranded on the rocks.  Being able to carve out this special time meant the world to me for it meant I could spend time with Claire Marie Irwin, the person, and not the “famous sister” who jet-setted around Southern California.

   

• Then there were times spent with my mother on the open seas: sometimes, it was to watch the whales off of San Diego, and sometimes, it was to take trips on “FLIP” - the unique Scripps Institute of Oceanography research vessel. 

   

  ❤️One particular Sea Adventure stands out, above the rest = the time I rescued a baby Harbour Seal from the open sea. Its mother had been killed and it had many fish hooks in and around its mouth. I brought the baby Harbour Seal on board and my mother helped me to extract the many hooks. We had a great time connecting through the actions of saving this beautiful baby Harbour Seal. My mother called SeaWorld and informed them we had a baby Harbour Seal in need of rescue. When we returned to San Diego Marina, SeaWorld was waiting for us. Some months later, SeaWorld contacted my mother to let her know the seal pup had been rehabilitated and released back to the Sea.❤️  

As I sit here typing, I am reflecting upon the fragility of life and the importance of Gratitude to help move through the process of the rollercoaster of emotions of my mother's passing. 

I look forward to reading your comments and your memories of my mother. 🌺

Remember, to look through the tabs: “Mementos” - for specific information and “Loved Ones” for a short human and animal family tree. 😀

Before I leave, here are a few more tidbits that you may not know about my mother. Enjoy. 🎉

• Favorite Food = Mexican
• Favorite Color = Chocolate Brown
• Favorite Drinks = Margarita & Orange Juice w/ Vodka
• Favorite Male Singers = Tom Jones, Neil Diamond & Sergio Mendez
• Favorite Female Singers = Roberta Flack & Janis Joplin
• Favorite Bands = Peter, Paul & Mary; Simon & Garfunkel – too many to count – And, various Mariachi bands  
• Favorite Songs = “Sound of Silence”, "Scarborough Fair", “Bridge Over Troubled Water”, “House of The Rising Sun” - too many to count
• Favorite TV shows = “The Twilight Zone”, “Outer Limits”, “High Chaparral” & “Star Trek”
• Favorite Male Actors = Sean Connery, Yule Brenner, Steve McQueen, Omar Sharif & Paul Newman
• Favorite Movies = “The King & I”. “Dr. Zhivago”, James Bond-Sean Connery, “Butch Cassidy & The Sundance Kid”
• Favorite Dance Duo = Fred Astaire & Gene Kelly
• Favorite Dance to Dance = The Rumba - My mother was a good dancer. 
• Favorite Gem Stone = Emerald 🎉

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🌈 A HUGE Shout Out goes to Jesus Lopez, Daria Martinez, and Michelle Freitas for being in my mother's life and for ALL your help with ALL that has needed to be done since my mother's passing.  Thank you. Many continued blessings to each of you. - Jennifer

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