Claire M. Tyson, age 88, of Colora, MD, passed away on Wednesday, December 2, 2015 at Ware Presbyterian Village in Oxford, PA. She was born in Yeadon, PA, on November 30, 1927, to the late Charles K.H. and Anna M. McClintock McWilliams.

When she was 3 years old, her family moved to Bryn Coed Farm, in Chester County, PA. The farm was owned by Justice Owen J. Roberts, a member of the U.S. Supreme Court.

In March of 1936, she moved to Ann’s Acres owned by Miss Anna M. Carrere, in 1944, to Long Branch Farm, on Trappe Church Road in Darlington, MD, and in 1948, to Rowlandsville, Cecil County, where she lived until her marriage to John Edwin Tyson of Rising Sun in May of 1952.

She graduated from Bel Air High School in 1944. She then attended Strayers College in Baltimore, MD, taking typing and shorthand, and later earned an Administrative Secretarial degree from Goldey Beacom School of Business in June 1962.

She was employed at Susquehanna Electric Company’s Conowingo Hydroelectric Plant from October 27, 1944 to May 31, 1991. She holds the record with the longest duration of service with SECO. She was secretary-treasurer of the SECO Club for many years; and then served as president.

She was a charter member of the Susquehanna Chapter of the Professional Secretaries International, serving as chaplain and president.

There were some firsts in her life: on the Board of Deacons of West Nottingham Presbyterian Church, the first woman elder at West Nottingham, the first female president of PECO Energy’s Quarter Century Club, and the first Beneficial Association Trustee from Susquehanna Electric Company.

An active member in the Presbyterian Church all her life, she was a delegate to the first national assembly of Westminster Fellowship in 1947, and attended the final national assembly of Westminster Fellowship in 1957 as an adult advisor. In 1977-78, she was Moderator of the New Castle Presbytery, and commissioner to the General Assembly in 1976. She served for many years as a church school teacher and youth fellowship advisor.

She is survived by two sisters, Nancy Orvis, and her husband, Edwin, of Colora, MD, and Janice McGrath, and her husband, Kevin, of East Stroudsburg, PA.

Funeral service will be held at 11AM on Friday, December 11, 2015 at West Nottingham Presbyterian Church, 1195 Firetower Road, Colora, MD 21917. Visitation will be held from 6-8PM on Thursday, December 10, 2015 at R.T. Foard Funeral Home, P.A., 111 South Queen Street, Rising Sun, MD 21911, and starting at 10AM prior to the service at church. Burial will follow at West Nottingham Cemetery. To send an online condolence, visit www.rtfoard.com