Teacher, watercolor painter, devoted wife and mother

Anne Davenport, a 65-year Claremont resident, died Thursday, June 16 at the Pomona Valley Hospital Medical Center. She was 90.

Anne Geoghegan was born in Pasadena, California on March 26, 1926 to Gladys and Hugh Geoghegan. She, her parents and her sister Jane moved to the San Joaquin Valley and lived there in several small towns before Anne graduated from Sanger High School in 1940.

After high school, Anne attended Fresno State College where she earned her teaching credential and met her future husband, Glenn Davenport. They were married on March 20, 1948.

The couple moved to Claremont in 1949, where Ms. Davenport began a long and successful teaching career, first working for principal Eleanor Condit at Sycamore School. Over the next 40 years, she raised two sons and taught in several other local schools, retiring as a special education teacher at Mountain View Elementary in 1990.

Ms. Davenport’s long membership in the Claremont League of Women Voters, her many years of teaching in Claremont and her membership in the Claremont Quaker Meeting provided her with an amazing circle of friendships.

It was literally impossible for the family to go into a restaurant without Anne stopping to chat with an old friend, a former student or someone she had known in the past. And, indeed, it was her sparkling personality and infectious smile to which her many friends responded, her family shared. Her deep caring for people often resulted in former students stopping to hug her as they made their way down Harrison Avenue at the Claremont High School Homecoming Parade.

Though Ms. Davenport’s interest in art and artists predated the couple’s move to the Claremont Manor, her new life as a painter began with the Manor’s introduction of a watercolor class taught by Anita Hughes. Anne thrived as a watercolor painter all the rest of her years, encouraging others and sharing her art supplies. Her experience with painting was capped by her one-woman show, “Pushing 90,” an exhibition of three years of paintings shown in the fall of 2015 at the Friends Meeting House.

Ms. Davenport is survived by her husband of 68 years, Glenn; by her son Andy, his wife Elizabeth and Elizabeth’s daughter Miriam Hodas; by her son Paul and his wife Lori; by her sister Jane Westrup; and by many loving nieces and nephews.

A gathering to celebrate Anne’s life will take place Saturday July 9 at 1 p.m. in Manor Hall at the Claremont Manor, 650 W. Harrison Ave. in Claremont. Parking is available at the Friend’s Meeting House, directly across the street at 727 W. Harrison Ave. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to a local charity of choice.