Claire Juba
Claire Marie (Lucey) Juba, 86, formerly of Haverhill, Massachusetts, and Old Orchard Beach, Maine, passed away Nov. 22, 2021 in Alexandria, Virginia.
Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, on July 13, 1935, she was the daughter of the late Daniel and Anna (Sequin) Lucey.
She grew up in Lawrence and was a self-described tomboy who enjoyed playing sports. Claire graduated from Lawrence High School, where she served as a homeroom representative, and was a member of the Class of 1952. She attempted to get Lawrence High School to start a girls’ basketball team in the early 1950s.
After high school, she worked at the Walden Paper Company. Claire was married to her high school sweetheart, the late Stephen M. Juba, Jr., for 60 years. She worked for the family business, Juba Electric, into the 1990s. She was a member of the Polish National Catholic Church. In the 1980s, Claire volunteered at Lawrence General Hospital, taking care of newborn babies.
When she was in eighth grade, Claire played for a telephone operators softball team and was one of the youngest players in the league. In her late forties, she got back into softball and played in the North Andover Women’s Softball League and the Andover Coed Softball League, playing into her 50s when she became one of the oldest players in these leagues. Over
the years, she also participated in bowling leagues in Lawrence.
In her late 50s, Claire took up tennis and joined the Cedardale Health & Fitness Club in Haverhill. She made close friends at Cedardale who would often visit her for girls’ weekends at the Linwood Arms condo in Old Orchard Beach.
She and her husband bought the condo at an auction in 1987, and loved spending weekends there and eventually retired there. Claire enjoyed boogie boarding in the ocean, taking long walks, playing bocce, getting her Peanut Buster Parfait at Dairy Queen in the OOB center, and bringing her grandchildren to Palace Playland.
Claire was also a devoted Boston sports fan, particularly of the Boston Red Sox and the New England Patriots. She loved traveling and cruising with her husband to many destinations around the world and meeting new people. She and Steve went on more than 35 cruises to locations such as the Panama Canal, Hong Kong, Korea, Western Europe, Russia, Poland, the Caribbean, Alaska, and many more. Claire also enjoyed playing the slot machines on the ships and with her friends at Foxwoods.
After the passing of her husband in October of 2016, Claire moved to Atria Assisted Living in Lincoln, Rhode Island, where she spent several good years. She enjoyed playing bingo and bocce, taking walks outside, and making friends at Atria. She moved into Silverado Alexandria Memory Care Community in the spring of 2021.
Claire was a devoted mother and grandmother who was known as “Gimpy” and “Gogo” to her grandchildren. She never missed a ball game that her sons played growing up, and frequently babysat her grandchildren when they were young. She would happily hop on an airplane to help out her sons’ families. Claire was nominated in a contest for being a great mother-in-law and was honored with a makeover on WCVB-TV’s Good Day! morning show. She was always bragging about the accomplishments of her children and grandchildren. She and her husband took their grandchildren on cruises, inspiring a love of travel.
She is survived by: her sons, Stephen M. Juba III and his wife, Cheryl, formerly of North Andover and currently of Saco, Maine, and Mauldin, SC; Dr. Daniel R. and his wife, Dr. Pamela Juba, of Alexandria, Virginia.; and Mark P. and his wife, Stacy, of Blackstone, Massachusetts; her grandchildren, Stephen M. Juba IV and his wife, Laura, of Greenville, South Carolina; Elizabeth Skievaski and her husband, Felix, of Alexandria, Virginia; Thomas Juba of Los Angeles; Brian Juba of Charleston, South Carolian.; Lauren and Caitlin Juba of Blackstone; her great-grandchildren, Hannah Juba and Leo Skievaski; and her brother, Richard Lucey, and his wife Sue of Washington, D.C.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations can be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, https://act.alz.org/site/Donation2?df_id=39209&mfc_pref=T&39209.donation=form1.
The services will be private.
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