Claire Lee Wiegand Beckmann

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. Claire Lee Wiegand Beckmann, 80, died peacefully on Saturday, Nov. 10, 2007, at Fountainview Assisted Living Facility in West Palm Beach, Fla., where she resided for 7 years. Born in Barre, Vt., on Dec. 29, 1926, she was the daughter of Eugene Kenneth Lee and Madeleine Kerr Lee. She graduated from South Glens Falls High School in 1944 and Plattsburgh State Teachers College in 1948. She was a dedicated third grade teacher for 25 years, most of those at Mary Hubbard School in Ramsey, N.J., where she resided, before moving to Mahwah, N.J., for 35 years. Claire loved antiques and was skilled at finding unique values at countless yard sales. She will long be remembered by family and friends as having discovered a rare, signed 1795, John and Thomas Seymour card table at one such yard sale, and displaying it on PBS's Antique Roadshow; later selling it for a record amount at a Sotheby's auction. Thereafter, Claire appeared on many leading TV talk shows and was featured in prominent publications. She was an excellent cook, enjoyed classical music, had an eye for interior decorating, and traveled extensively, especially in her retirement years. Some of her favorite times were spent with family at her "creek house" in Johnsburg, N.Y. She was a member of the Junior Guild and College Club of Mahwah. She is survived by her three loving children: Kenneth Wiegand and his wife, Sally, of Allendale, N.J.; Trudi Puffer and her husband, John, of Lee, N.H.; and Lisa Ferguson and her husband, Thomas, of Palm Beach, Fla.; and their father, Herbert Wiegand of Boxboro, Mass. She was the proud grandmother of Kristen and Julie Puffer and Reed and Taylor Ferguson. She also leaves behind her devoted sister, Lila Silva Harrington of Thurman; and her brothers, Norman Lee of Thatcher, Ariz., Robert Lee of Cooperstown, N.Y. and Brian Lee of Glens Falls; several nieces and nephews; and her former husband, G. Avery Beckmann of Cayukos, Calif. A memorial service will be held at her summer place near Garnet Lake in Johnsburg, N.Y., this spring. Should you desire, donations may be made in her memory to: Hospice of Palm Beach County, 5300 East Avenue, West Palm Beach, FL 33407.