SOUTH PORTLAND – Clare Elizabeth McKeagney died at home on Jan. 16, 2021, at 74, as a result of advancing cardio-vascular disease. She was granted her long-standing wish simply to “drop dead” rather than experiencing a long, debilitating struggle.

Clare was born in Portland on April 24, 1946 to Virginia Williams of Cape Elizabeth. She was immediately adopted by her grandparents, Ivor and Mabel Williams, also of Cape Elizabeth. She grew up spending hours playing at the shoreline in Cape and at the family cottage on Long Island. She developed a deep and strongly held love of Casco Bay that left her with a lifetime need to hear pounding surf and to smell ocean water.

Clare graduated from Cape Elizabeth High School in 1964 and attended the University at Portland (now USM). She earned an associate degree in English literature prior to her marriage to John H. Jackson in 1968.

She continued to live in Cape Elizabeth and became the mom of a son, John H. Jackson III, and a daughter, Laura. For several years, she worked as a pharmacy technician at Jones Pharmacy on Shore Road. She developed a keen appreciation for the opportunity to provide support and service to her Cape Elizabeth neighbors and greatly enjoyed the resulting lifetime friendship with Wayne and Julia Jones. She subsequently accepted a position at Union Mutual (now UNUM) and worked for 11 years as a benefits specialist, a job that outlasted her first marriage which ended in 1985. It was during these years that she was able to maintain her love of the ocean by becoming an accomplished sailor, competing in the annual Monhegan Race for several years. The wide network of fellow sailors provided her with many new friends.

In 1987, Clare married Robert McKeagney and welcomed his children, Rob and Hildi, to her family. Moving the blended family to another new home in Cape Elizabeth, Clare now was not only able to hear and smell the ocean but could also see it! She continued to invest herself passionately in sailing and was extremely proud of her namesake boats, Clarity and Clarion. Within a few years, she left her position at UNUM to join Bob in his consulting business. Clare became the coordinator (and sometimes surrogate sister or mother) of a staff of research assistants and a national network of people who worked with Bob on a wide variety of health and human service policy and practice issues. As a bonus, she was frequently able to participate in field work when the destination was in places such as Honolulu, Santa Fe, New Orleans, or Manhattan in the spring. In a similar spirit, she found unexpected pleasure in less traveled places like Scott’s Bluff, Neb. or Cheyenne, Wyo. There were, of course, a few somewhat more pedestrian places that didn’t seem to fit well with her schedule. As was so typical of Clare, she made lasting friends in these and many other locations throughout the United States. Her smile, engaging personality, and genuine interest in others provided a welcome change in the challenging circumstances that often characterized these interventions in particularly tense community or political situations. She became a reliable source of updated information and reassurance for public officials throughout the country who regularly telephoned her Cape Elizabeth home office. She appreciated their forthright acknowledgement that her patience, common sense, and pleasant manner were helpful.

Clare made a special investment in a multi-year project in Philadelphia where she helped to coordinate the scheduling and coordination of a large team of professionals and an even larger team of graduate students who carried out a detailed, longitudinal study of the status of children in the city’s foster care system. Although her primary responsibility was to maintain a work schedule and to facilitate communication among multiple city departments, her greatest contribution was to make every member of a nearly 50-person team feel supported and appreciated for the, sometimes, difficult work that needed to be done. As usual, she really enjoyed her time in the city and formed strong bonds with the local officials with whom she worked.

After merging their consulting business with similar services provided by the Child Welfare League of America (CWLA), Clare and Bob finally moved their work headquarters to Washington, D.C. in 2000. This was to be Clare’s first experience living outside of Maine and Cape Elizabeth. Understandably, she had some apprehension about this change. In order to maintain one foot in Maine, she and Bob purchased a camp on Hancock Pond in Denmark. While southern Oxford County was different than Cape, Clare was comforted to know that she had permanent access the waters (albeit fresh, rather than salt) of Maine. With this “safe haven” in hand she made a successful transition to a new home in Arlington, Va. and a daily commute on the Metro to her office near the United States Capitol. She enjoyed her work as a Development Officer for CWLA but was really captivated by the opportunity to develop relationships with new people from her workplace as well as her Arlington neighborhood. She embraced the diversity of geographic and cultural backgrounds, educational achievements, and professional experiences of others. Through these friends, she found new opportunities for continued personal growth. She also embarked on an intense and purposeful exploration of the broad array of museums, monuments, and historic buildings that characterize the city of Washington. She became a frequent patron of performances at The Kennedy Center. Performances by the National Symphony Orchestra were among her favorites. Arlington National Cemetery, adjacent to her new home, offered her a sense of national pride, as well as respite from an intense environment that was clearly different than that of Maine. Although the Potomac River was a poor substitute for the North Atlantic Ocean, Clare learned to appreciate the river and to understand that there are many ways to make a place special.

In 2004, Bob accepted a new position in Clearwater, Fla. Clare took this as an opportunity to retire and to begin an annual routine of spending half the year at the camp in Denmark. She had quickly determined that the weather, the people, and the politics were enough to blunt her enthusiasm for Florida. Maine, once again, became the real focus of her life. With Bob making regular weekend visits, she settled into a rural lifestyle that seem to suit her. Along with her cat, Jake, she spent her days maintaining flower gardens, floating in the lake, and spending evenings by the fire while reading (or, alternatively, becoming outraged by the daily news reports on television). She was immensely pleased to begin hosting visits by her grandchildren and to share their enjoyment of the lake waters. Clare also became intensely involved with local Denmark civic affairs and, yet again, added to her extensive circle of friends.

Bob soon confirmed Clare’s judgement that Florida was not a good fit for native New Englanders and in 2007 moved to a job in Connecticut. He and Clare settled in Glastonbury, Conn., creating a much better arrangement for commuting to Maine.

Clare took full advantage of this location and spent sufficient time in Denmark to perhaps qualify as one of the local characters.

After Bob’s retirement, he joined her at the camp until they purchased a condominium in South Portland. Since then, they had divided their time seasonally between Denmark and South Portland. This enabled Clare to enthusiastically rejuvenate her long-time friendships with old neighbors. One of her last requests was to have her valued relationships with Nancy Woodward and Judy Lessard highlighted in this summary of her life.

Clare was a fan of Boston sports team, becoming more enthusiastic about the Celtics and Bruins over the years. Like other Mainers, she remained ambivalent about the Red Sox and, until this year, completely confident about the Patriots.

One of her pleasures was to discuss the current status of all of these teams with her son.

Clare was predeceased by her parents, Ivor and Mabel Williams of Cape Elizabeth; her sister, Virginia Anto of Norfolk, Va.; and her brothers, Ivor Williams Jr. and Richard Williams, both of Cape Elizabeth.

She is survived by her husband, Robert McKeagney of South Portland; her son, John H. Jackson III (wife Kate) of Whitefield; her daughter, Laura Stewart (husband Wes) of San Clemente, Calif., her stepson, Robert McKeagney III (wife Wendi) of Dover, N.H., her stepdaughter, Hildi McKeagney (husband Dave Cousins) of South Portland; and her half-brother, John Anto of Chicago.

She leaves 12 grandchildren, Audrey Block, Lily Stewart, Elizabeth Cartlidge, John H. Jackson IV, Sophia Rideout, Isabelle Murphy, Patrick Jackson, Andrew Jackson; Damien Jackson, Hanna Jackson, Stephen Jackson, Robert McKeagney IV; and five great-grandchildren, Evan Cartlidge, Owen Cartlidge, Clara Jackson, Lucy Jackson, and Edmund Jackson.

In addition, she leaves many nieces, cousins, and other relatives. Among them, Clare felt special bonds with nieces, Kathy Miles, Diane Watts, Mary Moore, Beverly Williams, and Helen Tweedy, all of whom felt like sisters. She also wanted to leave special recognition of grandniece, Jessica Kiersted, who worked with her as a diligent colleague for many years.

In accordance with Clare’s respect for current public health advisories, there is no formal memorial or ceremony planned at this time. Arrangements are under the direction of the Conroy-Tully Walker Funeral Home of South Portland. To view Clare’s obituary page, or to share an online condolence, please visit http://www.ConroyTullyWalker.com.