Clara Elizabeth Sheskey (Tipton)

Surrounded by her family at the Pat Roche Hospice in Hingham, Clara Sheskey passed away peacefully on September 21, 2015, just 17 days short of her 93rd birthday. She was born and raised on her family’s farm in the small town of Buena Vista, just outside of Portsmouth, Ohio. Her parents were Oscar & May Tipton (Blood). After going to local schools, Clara attended and graduated from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio with a Bachelor degree in Education. It was there she met the love of her life, her husband, the late Bill Sheskey.  After graduation, Clara became an elementary school teacher in Ohio until she and Bill married on July 30, 1943 in Indianapolis, Indiana during the Second World War.  

As their family continued to grow Clara and Bill settled in Hingham, Massachusetts in 1957. Clara was raising a family and also began a lifetime of service to local non profit organizations that served the community and helped others. She was a weekly volunteer at the Boston Children’s Hospital and received an award for 25 years years of continuous service. Her twenty years of work with the American Cancer Society’s “Road to Recovery” program became a service model for ACS organizations around the country. She worked many years with the Hingham Visiting Nurse Association and served a term as the President of the Board of Directors. In addition to her service to healthcare organizations, Clara volunteered many years at the Wellspring Multi Service Center in Hull, Massachusetts. Later in life she served on the committee to re-establish the Hingham Farmers Market and was particularly pleased with its success. In 2003, Clara was honored with a citation from the Massachusetts State House of Representatives and State Senate for years of dedicated service to the community. 

One of Clara’s great attributes as a person was her ability to make people around her feel special. Her curiosity and desire to learn everything she could about the world was infectious.  Those who knew her will remember her as an elegant, strong lady who continues to occupy a grand space in people’s hearts. 

Clara is survived by her son John Sheskey and his wife Anne Morrison of Hingham, MA,  Elizabeth Sullivan and her husband Christopher of Hingham, MA,  Bill Sheskey and his wife Lynn of Seneca, SC and Martha Goodrich and her husband Jim of Lebanon, NH. She is also survived by 16 grandchildren and 25 great grandchildren. Clara is predeceased by her husband Bill, son Mark Sheskey and granddaughter Merideth Sheskey. 

In accordance with her wishes, services will be private. All are welcome to join her family in a celebration of her life on Friday September 25, 2015 at 4PM at the South Shore Country Club in Hingham, MA.  At her request, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made in her name to Pat Roche Hospice House in Hingham, MA or Wellspring Multi-Service Center in Hull, MA.