Claire Tracy Townsend ’74

Claire Townsend succumbed to breast cancer Dec. 19, 1995. At Princeton Claire majored in English, joined Tower Club, and was active in Triangle Club. She was also captain of the 197374 squash team, which won the national championship.

Before entering Princeton, Claire directed a group of Miss Porter's School graduates who investigated abuses of the elderly in nursing homes under the guidance of consumer advocate Ralph Nader. The group's work, including the book Old Age: The Last Segregation, of which Claire was editor and principal author, was widely credited with alerting the nation to the need for nursing home reforms.

After graduation, Claire went to L.A. to work in the film industry. She became a v.p. at United Artists and Twentieth CenturyFox. Later, she graduated from Southwestern U. School of Law and passed the Bar in 1990. She remained interested in film and produced the video documentary The Spirit of Peace, about Peace Pilgrim, a woman who renounced all worldly goods and traveled America preaching the cause of peace.

The class wishes to extend its sincere sympathy to Claire's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert C. Townsend '41, her sisters, Joan and Jill, and her brothers, Robert and Jeffrey.

The Class of 1974