Clara Elizabeth Dente

BARRE CITY - Clara Elizabeth Dente, 94, of Fairview Street, died Tuesday night, Sept. 9, 2008, at the Woodridge Nursing Home in Berlin with her family at her bedside.

Born July 23, 1914, in Apthorp, N.H. (now part of Littleton, N.H.), she was the daughter of Henry A. and Amanda (Harriman) Farr. She attended elementary school in Littleton and Dalton, N.H., and graduated from Northfield High School in 1931, and from the Barre City Hospital School of Nursing in 1938, and became a Registered Nurse.

On June 4, 1940, she married James Ernest "Nesto" Dente Sr. in Northfield. Following their marriage, they made their home in Barre. He died Dec. 10, 1998.

Clara was a longtime parishioner of St. Monica Catholic Church and was a Past Grand Regent of Court St. Monica #1181, Catholic Daughters of the Americas, as well as the Confraternity of the Holy Rosary.

She was devoted to raising her four sons and dedicated many years to community service. She had been Legislative Chairman of the State League of Women Voters; for over 50 years a nurse for local Red Cross blood drawings; a planner and coordinator of the Barre Heritage Festivals and an active fundraiser for the Red Cross, March of Dimes, American Cancer Society and the Multiple Sclerosis Society among others. Clara had also volunteered many hours at the Waterbury State Hospital, the Council on Aging, Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, The Crossroads Home Demonstration Group and Central Vermont Hospital Auxiliary and Gift Shop. She belonged to the Rebeckah Hastings Chapter of the DAR and the Barre Women's Club and was a Merit Mother in the state of Vermont in 1970.

As a loving mother, grandmother and great grandmother, Clara is survived by her four sons, Thomas J. Dente and his wife, Camilla, of Middletown, Conn.; James E. "Jack" Dente Jr. and his wife, Colette, of West Danville; Richard H. "Rick" Dente and his wife, Lucille, of Barre and Stephen N. Dente and his fiancé, Carol Sullivan, of Londonderry, N.H., and 11 grandchildren and five great grandchildren. Also surviving is her brother, John Farr, of Waterbury and nieces and nephews.

Besides her husband, she was predeceased by two brothers and four sisters.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2008, at 10 a.m. in St. Monica Catholic Church in Barre. Burial will follow in Hope Cemetery.

There are no calling hours.

Memorial contributions may be made to Central Vermont Home Health and Hospice, 600 Granger Road Barre VT 05641 or St. Monica Parish, 79 Summer Street Barre, VT 05641.

The Hooker and Whitcomb Funeral Home, 7 Academy Street Barre is in charge of the arrangements.

Visit the guest book at www.timesargus.com/obits