Clara Z. Cameron, 88, of Longview in Ithaca, NY, formerly of Smyrna, died on Jan. 2, 2010. She was born March 10, 1921, to George and Clara Zink of Stratford, CT.
Following in her father’s footsteps, she attended Cornell University, graduating in 1942, then worked in ophthalmology research at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York. While at Cornell she met the love of her life, Donald Cameron, and they were married in 1944. She dedicated her life to raising their five children, instilling in all of them strong values of family and faith and service.
She was a major contributor to the family's Scouting involvement. As a youth she earned Girl Scouting's highest rank. Later she was a Cub Den Mother while her husband was a Scoutmaster. She gave great encouragement and got much pleasure seeing all four of her sons reach the rank of Eagle Scout and her daughter attain the highest rank in Girl Scouting.
Clara’s biggest gift was to be a homemaker, and she did it with excellence, nurturing, feeding, and clothing them all with exceptional skill. All of her family still have and treasure the garments and handcrafted gifts she made.
Clara was also active in the community. She was chairman of the Board of Elections, president of Friends of the Smyrna Library and president of Homemaker's Club. She was dedicated to her church, with special affection for the Asbury United Methodist Church in Smyrna, where she was active as a member and leader in many church offices for 40 years before moving to Ithaca in 2004.
Clara always identified her native New England as home, and even though she and Don traveled the world together, they always returned to spend summers in their simple cabin on the coast of Maine, continuing this tradition into their 80’s.
She is survived by her husband of 65 years, Donald Cameron; her children: George (Pauline) Cameron of Ithaca, Mary Emily Cameron of Collingswood, NJ, Robert (Pamela) Cameron of Rocky Mount, NC, Donald Cameron of Portsmouth, NH, and Bruce (Brenda) Cameron of Derry, NH; and four grandchildren: Brian (Rebecca) Cameron of Ithaca, Susan (Gordon) Welch of Portland, OR, David Cameron and Mary Beth Cameron of Rocky Mount, NC.
She was our beloved wife, mother, and grandmother; she will be deeply missed.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, Jan. 30 at 2 p.m., at Longview, the retirement community where she and Don have resided for the past six years. If you wish to honor Clara’s memory, please consider a gift to Longview, 1 Bella Vista Drive, Ithaca, NY.
The family is being assisted by the Ness-Sibley Funeral Home.
