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Clara Millett, 86, West Branch
Obituaries · June 04, 2015
Clara Millett, 86, died on Sunday, May 31, 2015, at the Crestview Care and Rehab Center in West Branch, surrounded by family.
A visitation will be held on Friday, June 5, from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Henderson Barker funeral home in West Branch. A celebration of Clara’s life will be held 10:30 a.m. Saturday, June 6, at the West Branch Friends Church. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to Friends United Meeting or the United Society of Friends Women International. Online condolences may be made to the family at www.hendersonbarkerfuneralhome.com.
Clara Weaver Millett was born on a farm in Parke County, Ind., to Willard and Emily Haworth Weaver on June 15, 1928. She began her education in a one-room country school. Clara graduated from Westfield (Ind.) High School in 1946 and from Marion College (now Indiana Wesleyan University) in 1950. She taught high school English for several years before recognizing a calling to go to Kenya, East Africa, as a missionary teacher. She taught at Kaimosi Girls High School from 1955-59 and again from 1960-64. During her furlough in the United States, Clara completed a master’s degree in education at Indiana University. Following her second term in Kenya, she returned to Indiana to teach once again.
Clara’s Quaker faith (Society of Friends) was the foundation of her life. It was through Quaker friends that she met and later married Ray Millett, of West Branch, in 1986, to the delight of both of their families and friends far and wide. Clara was active in Friends meetings and organizations wherever she lived. She provided leadership in many different roles in local, state and international Friends organizations, including the United Society of Friends Women, Iowa Yearly Meeting, Western Yearly Meeting, Friends Committee on National Legislation and Friends World Committee on Consultation. Clara served on the Scattergood Friends School Committee, was an active member of the American Association of University Women, and served as a hospice volunteer in Cedar County.
As a Spanish major in college, Clara had aspirations to serve as a missionary in a Spanish-speaking country. In 2011, at the age of 82, an invitation came for her to finally realize this desire among Friends in Cuba. She was able to travel with a team of seven to minister in Friends churches in the Holguin Provence where she inspired Cuban Friends to “walk in the Light of God.”
Travel was one of Clara’s favorite activities. During her trips to and from Kenya she traveled around the world and later visited many other countries. She enjoyed sports of all kinds, playing basketball and softball in college. Later in life, bowling broadened her circle of friends. Clara was an avid bird-watcher and her life on an Iowa farm offered many opportunities to appreciate God’s created beauty. She and Ray were loving custodians of the Millett century farm and woods where they welcomed many visitors to the Friends Cabin.
She is survived by her sister, Marilynn Bell of Indiana; brother- and sister-in-law Roscoe and Helen Millett; and many loving nieces, nephews and church family members.
She was preceded in death by her parents, husband Ray Millett, brother Edgar Weaver and wife Marjorie, brother-in-law John Bell, and niece Diane Bell Siewert.
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