Pillars of the Church: Claire and Cliff

The last time we wrote about Claire Steck as a Pillar of our Church was the fall of 1998. In May of 2005 she married Cliff Rowe and things changed, sometimes slightly and sometimes dramatically. The “slight” changes are that she doesn’t do as much at St. Anne’s anymore; she just:
• Serves as head sacristan;
• Launders church linens and servers’ cassocks;
• Serves as Eucharistic minister and lector at weekday Masses or Morning Prayer;
• Brings communion to nursing homes and shut-ins; and
• Handles preparations for Mass at Queen Anne Manor and Queen Anne
Healthcare.

But she no longer:
• Is secretary of the Sanctuary Society;
• Is a Lay Presider for Morning Prayer; or
• Tutors second graders in reading.

She’s obviously slacking off!

The reason we may attribute to the marriage. Instead of 7 children, she now has 15; instead of 21 grandchildren, she how has 33; instead of 2 great-grandchildren she now has 3. The Steck and Rowe family lines are definitely fruitful! The time she and Cliff spend at Bartell’s each month picking out cards for birthdays, graduations and various other family celebrations is substantial. They now maintain several calendars: one for family activities, one for church activities, and one for medical appointments.

She and Cliff have known each other since she came to the parish in 1964 (he came in 1954). When she was married to Lee and he was married to Irene, the Steck and Rowe children were all at St. Anne School together and the parents were active in many school and parish activities. Both couples survived 15 teen terror years together. And both couples worked with Margaret Voss in her various volunteer jobs at the parish. Then after their first spouses died, Margaret Voss played cupid at the Knights of Columbus Octoberfest in 2004. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Cliff is involved in Claire’s volunteering now, especially as week-end sacristans, but he hasn’t started ironing the church linens and servers’ cassocks yet. Claire, the master of understatement, says her life is “fuller than in 1998”. Cliff says “we’re sure happy” and we parishioners can see that for ourselves. Congratulations to Claire and Cliff for blending their families so successfully and continuing to give us the benefit of their generosity.