Claire Rubin
Claire Rubin passed away peacefully October 14, 2024, in her home. Claire Lois Kinsler was born in Springfield, MA, on April 26, 1933, to Herman and Sadie Kinsler, joining her older brother Richard in their happy family. She was raised in the Springfield area and was a graduate of Edgewood Park School for Girls and Mount Ida Junior College. Claire met the love of her life, Leonard Rubin, and they were married in May 1954. They raised three daughters, Andrea, Lori, and Jamie, and tragically lost them in a March 1966 house fire. With love to give and family so important in their lives, they adopted a baby boy and girl and began a new chapter for themselves, raising Jim and Trish in Longmeadow, MA, surrounded and supported by family on both sides of the “family tree.”
Claire and Lenny enjoyed art, antiques, social rounds of golf, friendly tennis games, and family vacations. They were both very active and philanthropic within the Springfield community. When Lenny retired in 1988, they moved to Sarasota, Florida, and lived there for 15 years, enjoying new friends, golf course communities, and warm weather. However, the tug of family and grandchildren pulled them back up north, and they moved to Waitsfield, Vermont, in 2003.
Once again, a new home and a new community to welcome. Claire volunteered at Fayston Elementary School, joined the garden club, book groups, bridge games, and a mahjong circle, and became a consistent “plus one” at all of Lenny’s Rotary commitments and events. They were always together as partners, and she has missed him every day since he passed in 2012.
Claire embraced being a mother and wife and was a model of unconditional love, compassion, and understanding, always placing her family’s needs above all else. She exhibited quiet strength and resilience at every one of life’s turns. While her later years brought her a modest schedule and less activity, she found much comfort in her home and property, enjoying the birds that frequent the surrounding meadow, the nosy deer and their footprints in the snow, the hedgehogs, porcupine, and an occasional bear. She accepted aging with true grace and humility in the face of circumstances beyond her control.
Two exceptional ladies have cared for her in these last years and Claire simply adored them. Neiza Verges and Pam Perry are remarkable women who are forever family. Claire leaves her son, Jim, his wife, Chely, and their combined children, Zachary, Max, Karla, and Leo, as well as her daughter and son-in-law, Trish and Ed Read, and their children, Ben and Sally. Nana will be missed, and she will always be loved and remembered in the very best of ways.
The funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Sunday, October 20, at Temple Beth El, 979 Dickinson Street, Springfield, MA, with burial in Beth El Cemetery. Donations in her memory may be made to JGS Lifecare, 770 Converse St., Longmeadow, MA 01106, JGSLifecare.org, or to Mad River Valley Ambulance Service, P.O. Box 305, Waitsfield, VT, 05673, MRVAS.org. For further information or directions, please visit ascherzimmerman.com.
