Clara HORESH NATHANIEL (1928 - 2020)

Clara was born in Hamadan, Iran, the oldest in a family of seven and an independent, strong-minded, and tough woman from the get-go. After marriage and the birth of their son Roby, Shua and Clara immigrated to Israel, where Dora and Katy were born, and stayed there for ten years. Wanting to join their family, they arrived in Montreal in January 1960, in the dead of winter and without a coat between them. From difficult beginnings, they created a rich, warm life, closely surrounded by extended family and the greater Iraqi-Jewish community of Montreal.

From those early years, Clara had to work to support the family. She often laughingly compared her first days as a telephone receptionist at Lumiray Lamp Manufacturing, where she barely knew how to connect phone calls, to the later years where she became manager of the entire business. Clara went on to own and run La Contessa, a lamp and shade shop on Sherbrooke Street, for many years. She loved that shop, made many friends, and found a creative outlet for her considerable energies. We, her children, would joke that if we did not move fast enough, she was liable to put a lampshade on our heads and sell us!

The last few years of Mom’s life were difficult ones. She suffered the great losses of her beloved two children and husband. At the very end, she was helped by the people around her – first and foremost, by her daughter-in-law, Angela, and her nephew, Charles Chitayat. Most especially, the family is profoundly grateful for the attention of her two primary caregivers, Angela Jacob and Marie-Tess Sarmiento, who eased Mom’s life immeasurably with their kindness and compassion.

Through it all, she retained her fierce independence and strength, her intelligence and grace, her sense of humor, her pride in her grandchildren and her curiosity and desire to travel. She was a role model for many people.