June 14, 1926 – Jan. 19, 2015

Claire B. Weissman, born June 14, 1926, died quietly on Jan. 19 at her home in Tujunga. She was 88 years old.

Claire was known for her outgoing interest and concern for others, a characteristic she applied even when and if circumstances would discourage most of us. From her willingness to ride in the back of a public bus assigned for blacks only before the name Rosa Parks became a household name, to her becoming excommunicated by the very religion of faith she had four times (nearly 50 years earlier), served jail time (the longest stint being 34 days) in Fort Scott, Kansas for refusing to contest the Green River ordinance (prohibiting any door-to-door handbill distribution without the sheriff’s signed approval), Claire demonstrated the very integrity and conviction for the liberating power of truth that ironically outlasted the very religious organization she had given the majority of her life to.

Undeterred by her “disconnect” from her “mother organization” (along with long-standing, yet religiously “dutiful,” friends and acquaintances), she would nonetheless continue praying for its forgiveness by God, hence keeping in both harmony and spirit with the one to whom Christianity owes its very designation.

Her living example of convictional faith has served as a witness to others, both inside and outside what small circle of family and friends she did have.

She is survived by her husband of 61-plus years George Elliot Weissman; two sons, Lande and Shane; one daughter, Rachel “Rose” Bates; one grandson; two granddaughters; and one great-granddaughter.