Clara Hester (nee Stackhouse) Radin passed from this life on February 22, 2018, at the age of 86 due to complications from cerebellar ataxia. She joins her husband of sixty-five years, John P. Radin, who passed recently in December 2017.
Clara was born on August 8, 1931 in New London, CT, to Amos and Anna Stackhouse. The eldest of three children, she leaves her brothers, Amos and William.
While her father was employed as an engineer with the Army Corps of Engineers, the family followed each job assignment throughout the country. As an exceptional student, Clara skipped a grade and graduated at the age of sixteen from Mt. Tamalpais High School in Marin. Upon her college graduation from San Francisco State, at a time when professional women were the exception in the financial world, she worked as an accountant/auditor for Price Waterhouse.
In short order, Clara achieved her C.P.A., married John, and had two children, Cathryn (Donald) Freitas, and Susan Gallagher. The family moved to Watsonville in 1958. After Susan’s birth, Clara returned to academics and received her Masters in Education and a teaching credential from San Jose State. She subsequently taught Accounting and Business Skills for thirty-six years at Cabrillo College, operated her own accountancy business, substituted in the classroom for Watsonville High School and was even a temporary auditor for Santa Cruz County. In her “free” time, she was a leader and avid volunteer for the Episcopal Church Women, 4-H, American Association of University Women, Visiting Nurses Association, American Red Cross, an Investment Club for women interested in the stock market, Questors, Notre Dame School and various community fundraising campaigns. Additionally she and John were host parents to American Field Service student, Karen Supik Chizmar, who has graced their lives for over forty years.
Clara also enjoyed a broad range of hobbies and interests: she sewed with the proficiency of a tailor, and loved to browse antique stores, try new recipes, read crime fiction, and travel the world. She will always be known among friends and family for her holiday eggnog!
Of course her three grandchildren, Megan and Ryan Gallagher, and Patrick Freitas, were the light of her life. She supported their extra-curricular activities and recognized every birthday, sacrament, special event and school accomplishment. They could always count on their grandma for love and encouragement.
Funeral services will be held on Thursday, March 1, 2018 at 10:30 a.m. in All Saints/Christo Rey Episcopal Church, 437 Rogers Ave., Watsonville. Contributions in Clara’s memory may be made to the Agricultural History Project, P.O. Box 1181, Watsonville, CA 95077. Mehl’s Colonial Chapel was entrusted with the funeral arrangements.
