Friday's Internet Edition, July 04, 2008.
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| From left, Alison, Steven and Lora Crowley mourn the loss of Claire. |
She signed up for the hardest academic classes throughout high school. In the four years at Reynolds High, she made only two B’s — those in a pair of very difficult college-level classes. She graduated fifth in a class of about 400.
At Duke University, she made straight A’s.
She had recently fallen in love with Africa and was considering becoming an epidemiologist to help tackle the many medical problems there.
A sophomore, she came home to Clemmons for Christmas with her family with the same high energy, enthusiasm and joy for life she had always displayed.
On Dec. 23, she took a bike ride to Tanglewood Park and didn’t make it back home.
Darkness comes quickly in late December. She must have stayed in the park too long. She had no lights, no reflective clothing, but her parents’ Waterford home is only a mile, at most, down narrow Harper Road.
She didn’t make it.
In the growing darkness, a motorist didn’t see her.
A Jeep driven by Frank Lanford, 24, of Tramore Lane, traveling at an estimated 45 mph, struck the bicycle at 5:40 p.m. No charges have been filed.
A trooper knocked on the Crowley home’s door on Kilcash Drive that evening with the terrible news.
Funeral services were held last week at Clemmons Presbyterian Church.
Her parents, Steven and Lora Crowley, and sister Alison have spent the week in shock and grief, but... subscribe to the Clemmons Courier, P.O. Box 765, Clemmons, N.C. 27012.