This post is 2 years late. As I’ve mentioned before, my updates have not been very regular for quite some time. Mom would have been 100 years old this year.

My mom was one of my best friends. She was special to many people and very close to all her sons and daughters-in-law, but besides that, we had a lot of common interests. Details of her interesting life are described in the reprint of her obituary below, but in particular, she and I shared a common interest in computers, ballooning, classical music and opera, and theater. She used to like to recall the story of our trip to an out-of-town balloon rally that was 8 hours away. We talked to much about computers that we were hoarse by the time we got there. My son, Jason was also with us. He was about 10, and he was also fascinated by computers (and he was very bright). At one point during the trip he piped up “Will you two give me a chance to talk?!” That was also the trip that we forgot to watch the gas gauge and ran out of gas. We wound up hitchhiking together into a nearby town to get enough gas to get to a gas station!

Mom was also one of my most loyal balloon crew members. She was the one who got my family into the sport when my Aunt Luana took it up and Mom began crewing for her. At times (in her 80’s) when she felt she couldn’t contribute much, she was still there at 5 AM and she did always find a task that she could do.

Her purchase of the first personal computer in the family made it possible for me to learn about them. She and I used to attend computer user group meetings together, and even when she needed me to help her with a problem that was beyond her, she always tried to solve it herself before calling me. Then she would stand or sit looking over my shoulder to see what I was doing.

For those of you who have not read it, or did not know her personally, here is her obituary:

Claire Donovan was born in Boston, MA to Joseph and Lillian Cronin Donovan. After completing business school, the Chief Clerk in the Boston FBI office, a family friend, urged her to apply and she joined the FBI steno pool in 1941. On Valentine’s Day 1943 she met newly-arrived Special Agent Lester Gallaher when he asked her to prepare the onerous transfer expense report. Although she declined, (“No, I don’t do expense reports”), they were married later that year. Following a transfer to the New York Field Office they travelled in 1945 to Palouse, WA where she met Les’ parents and extended family for the first time. This included a memorable visit with Les’ great-grandmother who had travelled west on the Oregon Trail as an infant. When asked by Les’ father Oliver when they might expect a grandchild, she answered, “In about nine months”, and Edward was born the following March. Richard, Robert, and Gerald arrived in succession, all born in August or September. Dad always said, “We never could get past that first cold snap of the winter.” After two cross-country road trips to Palouse, Les received a transfer to Seattle in 1957 and they set out on a one-way trip west.

Between New York and Seattle, Claire raised four boys, who in turn raised several hamsters, four dogs, numerous cats, tropical fish, nineteen rats, a rabbit, a pet crow, garter snakes, and lampreys; a cantankerous monkey had a relatively short stay. In addition to the many Cub Scout, Boy Scout, sports, and theater activities, the boys enjoyed considerable freedom while growing up (within the limits of an FBI-agent father and Irish Catholic mother).

Retirement years were active and varied. Claire and Les travelled extensively, including two months on a freighter trip to Asia, a trip through the Panama Canal, several Elderhostel trips to Europe, and an extended genealogy expedition throughout the US. Both were active in FBI alumni associations until Les’ death in 1985. Claire was a co-founder and officer of the Pacific Northwest Chapter of the Society of FBI Alumni and remained active for many years.

Claire was a computer pioneer, obtaining an Atari computer and taking a BASIC programming class in 1980 at 60. When close friend and relative Luana Sever began hot-air ballooning at 61, 59 year-old Claire became her first crew member. Son Rich later became a pilot and Claire served as crew chief until she was 87, organizing the rest of the crew, driving the chase vehicle, and staying in contact via CB radio.

Her extended family includes sons Ed, Rich, Bob and Jerry; wives and partners Janet, Janie, Linda, and Cynthia; grandchildren Deborah, Gary, Leslie, Jess, Jesse, Noel, Ian, and Amelia; great-grandchildren Zachary, Emma, Sarah, Alonzo, and Dominic; great-great grandson Blake; and nineteen nieces and nephews. She felt the loss of siblings Joseph Donovan, MD, Eleanor Donovan Barrett, Marion Donovan Barrett, and Robert Donovan, grandson Jason, and daughter-in-law Susan.

Claire was soft-spoken and congenial with everyone she met, with a beautiful smile. She had an easy and intuitive sense of who she was, knowing where her boundaries began and where they ended. She was so nice when she said “No” to family, friends (or salespeople) that it sometimes took several iterations for the answer to soak in. She was a confidential listener to friends and family, offering help when she could but never intruding or solving other people’s problems for them (e.g. FBI expense reports). Everyone believed they were the ‘favorite’ son, daughter-in-law, or grandchild, despite suspecting that everyone else felt the same way. We strive with limited success follow her seemingly effortless example.