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Kathleen Josephine Claxton

2018-07-12

Kathleen Josephine Claxton 82, of Fernandina Beach passed away peacefully July 12, 2018 at the Custead Care Center of Haven Hospice in Orange Park, Florida.

Kathleen was the second oldest of 13 children, born in Faheens, County Mayo, Ireland. She was a daughter of the late Anthony and Agnes Moran Quinn.

In 1941 the Land Commission Exchange gave families better farms on the east coast in exchange for their west coast farms and moved all their possessions by train. It was then she spent the rest of her childhood in Laragh, Maynooth, County Killdare, Ireland.

One of Kathleen�s favorite memories was of her first job was in a chocolate factory in Maynooth. It brought much to the delight of her younger siblings. In early adulthood, she moved to Camden town London, England where she worked on Tottenham Court Road at Lyon�s Tea House. Eventually she moved onward and joined her sister in New York City. There she secured a position with New York Bell as a switchboard operator. While in New York in 1964 she met John William Claxton, to whom she was married for 14 years. In 1968, the early years, they moved the family to Jacksonville, Florida. This is where their first child joined them, Ann Elizabeth Claxton. They lived in suburban Arlington, where she was a housewife who loved to cook and sew and garden and where their second child, Maria Colleen Claxton was born in 1970.

Kathleen also loved to play cards and was an avid reader. She volunteered at Christ the King Catholic School and Church and also attended mass there. In 1973 the family moved to Yulee, Florida to be near John�s family. They had a house built by his uncle, a prominent master builder, Brody Claxton. The house was situated on a large waterfront acreage overlooking Lofton creek. Kathleen she volunteered at Yulee Elementary School where she and another lady sewed bicentennial costumes for every child in the school. As not all of the parents could afford the fabric for the costumes, many other parents donated money so that every child could participate in the 1976 parade held at the school. In 1985 she landed a job working for American Body Armor where she, as a seamstress, sewed bullet proof vests.

Then, in 1986, she moved the family to Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island where she purchased a house and remained there for over 30 years. In those years she became an board member for the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill and an active member of St. Michael�s Catholic Church. In more recent years she volunteered at the Baptist Medical Center as a coffee corner attendant while also attending bingo, which she loved, twice a week. She had a wonderful happy spirit about her always, warm and charming, but with an ever present sense of hope. She had many friends and loved to host parties and attend holiday celebrations and festivals of all sorts. Anyone who came to her house were always treated like family, not just a guest. Her most admirable attributes were; that she had a great determination of will; a great strength of character and strong sense of integrity no matter the situation.

A dedicated wife, mother and friend her survivors include her children, Ann (Allen)Wingate, of Yulee and Colleen Claxton (Norman Cranford) of Fernandina Beach; her siblings, Michael (Sara) Quinn of lackburn, Lancashire England, Sr. Margaret Quinn of New Ross, County Wexford,Ireland, John (Mary) Quinn of Faheens, Swinford, County Mayo Ireland, Ann (John) Fay of Clifton Park, New York, Dolores Roughley of Poughquag, New York, William (Trini) Quinn, of Santa Barbara, California, Kevin Quinn, of Laragh, County Kildare Ireland, Philomena (Eddie) Fitzpatrick, of Kilcock, County Kildare Ireland, Birnadette Quinn (Moctar Auld Achmed), of Clane, County Kildare Ireland, and Veronica (Martin) Kavanaugh, of Portmarnock, County Dublin Ireland; her Grandchildren, Amy (Jeremy) Taylor and Adam (Chelsea) Wingate; her Great-Grandchildren, Brantley Wingate and Paisley Wingate, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

The family will receive friends at Oxley-Heard Funeral Directors on Wednesday, July 18, 2018 beginning at 10:00 AM until 11:30 AM. That visitation will be followed by a funeral mass at 12:00 PM at St. Michael�s Catholic Church with Fr. Jose Kallukalam, Celebrant, officiating. Kathleen will be laid to rest in a private family service in Ireland at a later date.

Memorials may be made to to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, http://namijacksonville.org.

UT SEMPER BELLI

Always keep fighting

NON DESISTAS NON EXIERIS

Never give up never surrender

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