Clara Robinson Stetson Grant

Clara Robinson Stetson Grant, 93, died peacefully at RiverMead in Peterborough on July 18, 2008.  She was surrounded by her beloved husband of 68 years, Herbert and their daughters, Janet Stetson Grant, Jaffrey and Linda Stuart Grant Reiman, Woodstock, Vermont.
 
          The seventh of eight children, she was born in Hingham, Massachusetts on June 27, 1915, the fourth daughter of Ada Stuart Elliott Stetson and George Warren Stetson. She was the last remaining sibling in her family.
 
She graduated from Hingham High School in 1932 and the New England School of Art in 1937. She continued her studies at the Museum School of the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, at Silvermine School of Art in Connecticut, and at the Sharon Arts Center.
 
          She married Herbert Baldwin Grant of Norwalk, Connecticut on January 6, 1940.
 
          She became a lifelong summer resident at the southeast end of Thorndike Pond in Jaffrey in 1921 when her father purchased land from Isaac Sprague, the culmination of a wish he had had since 1913 when he first visited Jaffrey. Over the next seven years he had built 3 summer cottages on the property. Her fathers love for Mount Monadnock and the surrounding area was instilled in Mrs. Grant from an early age. She was dedicated to the ideals of preserving and protecting the beauty and tranquility of the mountain and Thorndike Pond. She and her husband were founder members of the Thorndike Pond Conservation Association for many years. They built a year-round home on their property in 1974.
 
          She will long be remembered for her artistic talent. In her early career she illustrated fashion advertisements for Jordan Marsh and Chandler department stores in Boston and John Wanamaker of Philadelphia. She was a charter member of the National League of the American Pen Women, Westchester County Division. She exhibited her paintings in numerous galleries. Many of her oils and watercolors are prized possessions in homes throughout the country.
 
          Family and friends who shared her love of the out-of-doors and a good round of golf or a tennis match will recall her natural competitive spirit and her clever sense of humor. Mrs. Grant was a member of the Dublin Lake Club and club champion at the Monadnock Country Club in 1980, 1982 and 1983.
 
          She was a member of the First Church of Jaffrey.
 
          She is survived by her husband, two daughters, a son-in-law, James Reiman, and many nephews, nieces and their children.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be directed to the organization whose efforts Mrs. Grant proudly supported - Society for the Protection of NH Forests Monadnock Zone Appeal, c/o CPMM, P.O. Box 62, Jaffrey, NH 03452.

A graveside service and memorial gathering will be held at a later date.