Claire Moody

Claire Gyllian Knox Moody passed away peacefully at home in Erie on August 11, 2016, surrounded by her loving family, fittingly on the feast day of St. Clare of Assisi.  Claire lived her life brightly for each of her 24 years and faced her untimely death with dignity and grace.
Claire was born in Manhattan Beach, CA on September 4, 1991 to Benjamin S. A. Moody and Patricia Knox Moody of Miami Beach FL and Erie, younger sister to Sarah Margaret Knox Moody.  She attended the School of the Sacred Heart in New York and Miami, South Beach High School in Miami Beach and Millbrook School in Millbrook NY, followed by college years at the University of Colorado at Boulder and Gannon University in Erie.  
Claire was much loved and will be deeply missed by her family, boyfriend Jerry Eighmy and many friends near and far.  She was beautiful and vivacious, brave and strong, compassionate and kind, she left her mark on everyone that she met.  She was a bright light; she lit up every room.  Claire was irrepressibly happy; teeming with energy, she flapped, she twirled, she loved to laugh. She loved music, particularly if she could dance and sing karaoke. She was active and athletic: soccer, ice hockey and lacrosse, golf and tennis, kayaking and paddle-boarding, mountain hikes, skeet-shooting at the farm and bonfires on Manchester Beach.  A surfer and snowboarder, she loved beach life and breathing mountain air; she traveled the world, but her heart was always in Erie.  She was a proud member of the Erie Yacht Club. Claire was a dedicated follower of fashion, who loved designer clothes and her Chanel bag, camo and cowboy boots. Claire loved being with her Jerry, with Sugar Magnolia, her Cavalier King Charles spaniel, with her “gypsies” and friends, and with her cousins and family.
Claire was preceded in death by her beloved grandmother, Mary Margaret Knox, uncle John Openlander and cousin Michael McCain.  She is survived by her grandfather Robert Knox of Erie; her aunts and uncles Kate Openlander, Chris & Dave Sechrist, Carrie Knox, Julie & Scott McCain, Amy & Scott Arrowsmith of Erie; her cousins Emily & Adam Kern and son Jackson of Portsmouth NH, Bob & Lauren Openlander and son John of Erie, Patrick Sechrist of Erie, Bryan & Sean Sechrist and Kelly McCain of Chicago IL, Shannon McCain of New York NY, John McCain and Andrew, Alex & Ellie Arrowsmith of Erie.  Also by her grandparents Gyllian & John Moody of Oxford, England, her aunts and uncles Dom & Anna Moody of Sydney, Australia and Lucy & Michael Thomas of London, England; her cousins Holly & Alice, Neive & Eli Moody of Bradford, England, Freddi Moody of Dubai, and Isabel & Kyra Thomas of London, England.  
Claire was 20 years old when she was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, a malignant bone cancer that is prevalent in children and young adults.  She was treated at Sylvester Cancer Center in Miami, Children’s Hospital in Denver, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the Regional Cancer Center in Erie.  One of Claire’s many doctors wrote “Claire is an inspiration to all of us that care for sarcoma patients or do sarcoma research; she is the motivation that pushes us on our journey to find a cure.”
        There will be no visitation. Friends are invited to attend a Funeral Mass at 12 noon on Tuesday, August 16, 2016 at St. Jude the Apostle Catholic Church, 2801 W.6th St. Private burial will follow.
   In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to the Ronald McDonald House in New York City at rmh-newyork.org, or 405 East 73rd Street, New York, NY 10021. Arrangements by the John J. Quinn Funeral Home, West 9th & Liberty St.