Clare Derham Fincher answered Heaven's call on September 24, 2023, one month after her 88th birthday. Clare was born August 24, 1935, the daughter of Edgar McGougan Derham and Sue Brown Derham. She was born in her mother's hometown, Mullins, SC, and her first home was in her father's farming community of Green Sea, SC. Her father, a Clemson grad, managed the family farm before entering the Army in WWII. In those days, the primary crop was tobacco. The farm was called "Loughrea Plantation," named for the Derham ancestral home in Loughrea, Ireland.

During WWII, Clare's father entered the Army and was soon promoted to Captain. After a stint at Fort Jackson, Captain Derham was stationed at Camp Myles Standish in Massachusetts. The family moved with him to Massachusetts and lived in nearby Taunton. Clare learned to ice skate on a frozen pond near her house in Taunton and enjoyed playing in the deep winter snow. (Forty years later, when Tom was attending the Naval War College in Newport, RI, they traveled to Taunton; Clare went right to her old home and clearly remembered how to get to the pond.)

After the war, the Derham family moved to Columbia. Clare attended Rosewood School, Hand Jr. High, and graduated from Dreher High School in 1953. In 1953, Clare was the Maid of Honor to Columbia's May Queen. She invited a fellow Dreherite, Tom Fincher, to be her escort at the May Queen Ball. That was their first date. After graduating from high school, Clare attended Queens College for a year in Charlotte, and was a member of Chi Omega Sorority. She then transferred to the University of South Carolina.

On January 10, 1955, Clare married Tom Fincher. Tom had just completed Army basic training at Fort Jackson. Following the wedding, Clare finished her sophomore year at USC and then moved with Tom to Southern Pines, NC, not far from Fort Bragg, where Tom was stationed.

When Tom went on two lengthy maneuvers in Louisiana, Clare returned to her studies at USC. Susan was born May 2, 1956. Clare graduated from USC in August 1957, and Sheryl was born three months later on November 9, 1957. Tom left the Army in January 1958 and entered Clemson College. While at Clemson, the family lived on campus in prefab housing.

Clare was an outstanding seamstress and made most of her children's clothes when they were young. While Tom was at Clemson, Clare began working in the college library, and was later librarian at Calhoun-Clemson Elementary School.

Tom graduated in January 1962 and re-entered the Army. For the next 30 years, Clare was again an Army wife and personified the motto, "Home is where the Army sends us." She moved 23 times! Clare taught fourth grade at Fort Benning, GA, and Fort Bragg, NC. She was the school librarian at St. Mary's By-the-Sea in Phoebus, VA, and in Grandview, KS. She earned graduate hours from the College of William & Mary.

When Tom was deployed to Vietnam twice and sent to Korea, Clare managed the household affairs, and never failed to send uplifting letters of love to Tom.

When Tom was stationed in Korea near the DMZ, Clare flew over and joined him for a whirlwind, two-week trip. She became a hit at the officer's dining hall, and made many shopping trips to Seoul, 45 miles away. During rice planting season, Clare waded into a rice paddy and helped plant rice for a nearby Korean village.

At various Army posts, Clare found time to play golf, tennis and bridge. Always an unassuming lady, her golfing buddies gave her a plaque that read, "Casual Clare."

As a battalion commander's wife, Clare was active in the battalion social activities and was "Mother Hen" to nearly 30 young officer's wives of the battalion. Clare was very active in officer wives and chapel activities at every Army post. She chaired Panhellenic organizations at several Army posts and was in charge of many scholarship programs for young women. She received several Army Certificates of Appreciation for her volunteer work.

From 1983-1985, Tom had a two-year UN Peacekeeping assignment in Jerusalem. They lived near north Jerusalem in the village of Shuafat, an Arab-Armenian village just inside the West Bank. Clare was very active in the International Wives Group and had extensive travel to Amman and Petra in Jordan, Damascus, Syria, and Cairo, Egypt. In Jerusalem, she was an unofficial "tour guide." When families of US officers visited, Clare took them on tours of Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Hebron, Jericho, the Dead Sea, and the Sea of Galilee. She enjoyed shopping in the Israeli and Arab markets in Jerusalem, Beit Hannina, and Bethlehem.

Tom was in charge of the 30-passenger UN airplane – loaned by Swissair. When the plane went to Switzerland for a two-week overhaul, Clare and Tom were hosted by Swissair executives and were sent on a two-week tour throughout Switzerland.

While Tom was the Garrison Commander at Fort Leavenworth, KS, Clare was active in many post activities. She was president of the Panhellenic Society which provided scholarships to children of military families. For her overall community service, the commanding general presented Clare with the Commanders Award Medal for Civilian Service.

While Tom was stationed at the Pentagon, Clare worked at H&R Block during tax season and she was a weekly bridge partner with the wife of the Army Chief of Staff. She was also a volunteer "Arlington Lady" who attended burials of soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery when no family member could be present. Even in bad weather, Clare stood like a lone sentinel at many soldier's graves.

Clare was an Army daughter, an Army wife and an Army grandmother. Due to her selfless volunteer work on Army posts during Tom's military service, Clare was awarded the prestigious Outstanding Civilian Service Medal by the Department of the Army.

Clare and Tom moved to Chapin in 1993. She was a teacher's assistant at Chapin Elementary School and accompanied her principal to Lake Murray Elementary School when it opened. At Lutheran churches and chapels, Clare participated in WELCA, Lutheran Church Women, women's circles, and Sunday schools. An expert basket maker, Clare taught basket weaving at the Heritage at Lowman for several years. She was also an accomplished bridge player. During the summers, Clare enjoyed boating and being in the lake with her grandchildren, Bradley and Ashley.

Clare and Tom loved to travel and visited many places in the U.S. as well as Mexico, the Caribbean, Israel, Cyprus, Greece, Turkey, Italy, Switzerland, France, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. During a trip to Ireland, Clare and Tom had a happy visit to County Clare. They visited a parish in Loughrea, and reviewed the baptismal records of her Derham ancestors. She and Tom also visited some of the Derham clan living in Loughrea.

Clare was a member of the Chi Omega Sorority Alumni (USC), Newberry College President's Club, Newberry College Women, Life Member of the Newberry College Women's League, the Newberry Museum and Historical Society, Mt. Horeb Lutheran Church Meriam Circle, St. Peter Lutheran Church Altar Guild, St. Peter Primetimers and St. Peter Fellowship Circle. Clare especially enjoyed monthly luncheons with her Dreher High School classmates.

Clare became a diabetic during Tom's senior year in college. For 62 years she endured thousands of needles and finger sticks. Not once did she ever complain or ask, "Why me?" Much later, the ravages of Alzheimer's clouded the sharp, active mind of this great, amazing, selfless lady.

In the words of that love song, Tom often said to Clare, "You're the best thing that ever happened to me."

Clare is survived by Tom, her loving husband of 68 years and two daughters: Susan Fincher Zais (Mick), and Sheryl Fincher. Grandchildren are Bradley Thomas Zais (Suzanne) and Ashley Zais Harper (Michael). Great grandchildren are Augusta Clare Zais, Culhane McGeever "Colt" Harper, May Rives Zais, Fincher Oliver "Finn" Harper, Lillian Mary Harper and Thomas Melvin Zais. Her siblings are Sue Derham Hopke (Clarence) and John Pickens Derham, III (Sharon). Besides her parents, she was predeceased by son-in-law, George Dominick, her sister, Sallie Derham Schirm, and brother-in-law, Lee Schirm.

Special thanks to Ms. Monica Hicks for her steadfast home care of Clare in the last years of her life, and Nurse Dixon at National Institutes of Health (Parklane).

Services will be at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Chapin on Tuesday, October 3, 2023. Visitation will be at 10:00 in the St. Peter Fellowship Hall. The funeral service will begin immediately following at 11:00. Committal will be at 3:00 at the Fort Jackson National Cemetery. Officiating will be Pastor David Tholstrup.

In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to St. Peter Lutheran Church, 900 Dreher Island Road, Chapin, SC, 29036.

Whitaker Funeral Home of Newberry is assisting the family.