Nira Tolene Clary; Homemaker, Former Teacher

Twelve days after celebrating her 100th birthday, Nira Tolene Clary died Sept. 20 after a brief illness.

Guests came from eight states and abroad to attend her centennial birthday party.

“I think she held on especially to have her birthday,” said Clary’s daughter, Ordelle Hofmann of Ventura.

Born Sept. 8, 1898, on a farm near Bureau, Ill., Clary was the seventh of George and Amelia Wade’s 11 children, all of whom are deceased.

She once taught in a one-room schoolhouse in Illinois, but was a homemaker for most of her life. She moved from Fenton, Mich., to Ventura in 1971.

Clary was married to Clarence Tolene, who died in 1959. In 1960, she married an old boyfriend, Tom Clary, to whom she had once been engaged. He died in 1989. During their marriage and retirement, the Clarys traveled extensively.

“She got around quite a bit,” Hoffman said, adding that her mother had been to Europe three times and all but two of the 50 states.

In addition to Hofmann, Clary is survived by son Merrill of Linden, Mich., eight grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and four great-great-grandchildren. Clary was preceded in death by daughter Shirley Jean Ford in 1981.

At Clary’s request, there will be private inurnment in Valley Memorial Park in Spring Valley, Ill., with no formal funeral services.

Arrangements are under the direction of the Ted Mayr Funeral Home, Ventura.