In the early morning hours of October 17th, 2024, in an ICU bed in Conroe, Texas, Claire began her journey into the arms of the Lord. The air was thin and chilly, and Lake Conroe was full of soft rippling waves under the moonlight. Claire was surrounded by her family and in the minds of countless friends, family, and neighbors who loved and adored her every day of her life.
Claire was born to a farming family in Longmont, Colorado, back in the summer of 1944. She grew up playing in the dirt and the mud, riding her ponies, making trouble with her brothers Jerry, Richard, and her sister Jean. A cowgirl at heart, Claire romped and rode on her horses for as long as she could. Her family has photos of her grinning ear to ear on the back of a 16 hand Chestnut colored pony. She attended Longmont High School and was an accomplished viola musician, earning first chair with the Boulder Symphony Orchestra. Claire married her high school sweetheart, Ronald Taggart in 1962, and together raised three sons, Patrick, Jeffrey, and Robert. The family settled on a small parcel of land south of Longmont where Claire worked for the Rocky Flats Nuclear Plant. Eventually the family moved to Wheatland WY. Claire was a founding member of the Sigma Chi Sorority chapter promoting sisterhood and community work. Claire was adamant about being involved in raising her sons, being their sense of safety, and fostering a homestead that allowed them to flourish.
Claire and her brothers would spend hours reminiscing and reliving great adventures from the summers they spent in Estes Park together as young adults finding their way, and as their families grew, they began welcoming their children and grandchildren to this magical gateway to the Rocky Mountains, a place of solace and home.
In 1987 Claire began a new chapter of her life in Ohio on the coast of Lake Erie and the surrounding islands where she worked at the Ford Motor company. Later she would return to Wheatland for a while to work and live on a cattle ranch, finally settling in Huntsville, Texas, to be close to Jeffrey. All over the country, people knew Claire and longed for her to visit them on her next adventure. She spent that time making lifelong friends, enriching her life with her giggly granddaughters, always having a dog to keep her company, and living life on her own terms.
Claire is preceded in death by her Father Frederick J. Carlson, her mother Evelyn M. Hahn, her brothers & Sisters-in-law Frederick “Jerry” Carlson (Susan Carlson), Richard Carlson (Sally Carlson), her sister Jean Carlson and her Daughter-in-law Jodi Roof-Taggart (Patrick Taggart). She is survived by her Sons & Daughters-in-law Patrick Taggart (Jodi Roof-Taggart) of Norwalk, Ohio, Jeffrey Taggart (Liza Taggart) of Willis, Texas, Robert Taggart (Terri Taggart) of Castalia, Ohio. Claire was also blessed with four granddaughters Brittany Taggart (Jimmy Mecouch), Lacie J. Roof-Smith (Adam Smith), Mikayla Taggart, & Kathryn Taggart-Smith (Austin Smith) and one grandson Joshua Roof (Sal Roof). Along with five amazing great grandchildren, Riley Smith, Chase Smith, Dalton Mecouch, Avery Mecouch, and Lily Mecouch.
A short service will be held at The Central Presbyterian Church in Longmont, Colorado on March 18th, 2025, at 12:00pm. Claire was laid to rest at the Mountain View Cemetery in Longmont, Colorado on Wednesday March 18th, 2025 at 1:00pm.
