Portland

June 9, 1921 — Sept. 22, 2024

The family of Claire Luethe Adams will gather on Saturday to celebrate her memory. Claire was 103 years old. She left us Sept. 22 to join her husband, Dr. Marv Adams, son, Greg, and grandson, Nathan, in heaven.

Claire was born on a farm on Skyline Boulevard in Portland on June 9, 1921. The day she was born, her brother, Brooks Luethe, went out to the field to let their father know she was born, saying, “another dirty girl” — his frustration at being the only boy out of now five girls.

Her parents were Samuel Lüthi (Luethe), son of Swiss immigrants, and Melinda Jane (Jennie) Brooks Luethe, whose own parents were children of Oregon pioneers. Claire joined siblings Wilma, Brooks, Virginia, Ramona and Irma.

The Luethe children all joined the neighborhood children at the elementary school on Skyline, where their mother taught from time to time. Claire later graduated from Scappoose High School.

She attended St. Helens Hall, a private day school in Portland, for a year while waiting to be old enough to attend nursing school, and then graduated from Good Samaritan School of Nursing in 1943.

Claire met H.M. (Marv) Adams in 1942. He was a student at Oregon State University, and they met while he was working summers on various Washington County dairy farms for the college. They married on March 20, 1943.

Very shortly thereafter, he entered Officer Candidate School at Fort Lewis, Washington. While he was away, Claire worked as a nurse at Good Samaritan Hospital, but several times during his training she was able to go with him to Georgia and to La Jolla, California.

Eventually, Marv shipped out to Europe, where he was part of Gen. George Patton’s Third Army, working their way through England, France, Belgium and Germany. Meanwhile, Claire was back at work at Good Samaritan Hospital.

When World War II was over and Marv returned, they moved to Pullman, Washington, where he enrolled at Washington State University’s school of veterinary medicine. He was able to finish his Oregon State University degree at the same time, graduating in 1950 with his doctor of veterinary medicine degree. Both of their children, Jennifer Layne and Gregory Marv, were born during those years.

After graduation, the family moved to Arcata, California, where he worked among the Basque dairy farmers, primarily. Eventually, he wanted to buy his own veterinary practice, and he found a vet in Astoria who was ready to retire. They moved to Astoria in 1955, which got them closer to Claire’s family in Portland.

After a full life of work and raising their family in Astoria, Claire and Marv sold the vet practice and their home in 1974, and built a home about a mile from where Claire was born, living near her father and siblings.

Claire’s desire had long been to be closer to home, and they were able to spend a lot of time with extended family, including her father, who lived to age 101. Their marriage was long and happy, ending after 58 years with Marv’s death in 2001.

For many years, Claire continued to manage the various properties and investments they had made over the years, and in more recent years, she continued to live in her own home down the street from her daughter, with some in-home care.

Claire is survived by her daughter, Jennifer (Adams) Saks (Kraig Saks), granddaughter, Emilie Saks-Webb (Derek Webb), and great-granddaughter Matilda Webb, and grandson, Matthew Saks (Kathy Balogh), as well as many nieces and nephews.

Gone before are Claire’s husband H.M. (Marv) Adams, son, Greg Adams, and grandson, Nathan Saks.

A memorial graveside service will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Phillips Cemetery, N.W. Old Cornelius Pass Road in Hillsboro, followed by a reception at Claire’s home in Rock Creek.