Clara Braden Thompson

1916 - 2016

Clara Braden Thompson

June 7, 1916 - April 22, 2016

Stayton - Clara Monica (Braden) Thompson, 99, passed away peacefully after a long, rich life. She was born to Henry and Monica (Bartosz) Wesolowski at her grandmother's home near Salem, Oregon.

Clara lived most of her life in the Willamette Valley near Salem but spent a few years with her husband, Vernon, and their children in Milton-Freewater, finally settling in Stayton. She eventually earned professional certification in dental x-ray. She worked in private practice for many years and finished her long career assisting dentists at the Oregon Correctional Institution.

She was married to Vernon Braden for eighteen years and then married again when she and her high school sweetheart, Clarence Thompson, met later in life. They were married for over twenty-five years.

Clara was preceded in death by her parents, Henry and Monica Wesolowski, her first husband Vernon Braden, her second husband Clarence Thompson, and her five brothers, Albert, Walt, Ray, Karl, and Larry Wesolowski.

She is survived by her three children, Don Braden (Elaine) of California, Patricia Hopkins (Dave) of Washington, and Joe Braden (Charlotte) of Oregon; eight grandchildren, eleven great-grandchildren, and one sister, Martha Schrader of Oregon.

Services will be held at 1 PM, Friday, April 29, 2016, at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church in Stayton. Interment at St Mary's Cemetery in Stayton follows immediately.