| Notes |
- CLAIRE JOYCE MCFARLIN (1930 to present)
(Research by Peter Folsom McFarlin Aug 2019)
Claire Joyce McFarlin is the only child of Kirk Charles (Mac) McFarli n and Claire Joyce (Baker) McFarlin. She was born in Flint, Michigan D ec 14 1955 after her parents had moved there to be near Mac's Genera l Motors Institute training. In 1957/ 58 her mother took her to Somervi lle, MA while Mac continued his flying career in Guatemala.
Claire's father Mac sent Peter an email 23 June 2008;
"...Regarding my daughter Claire Viviani, I have not kept in touch wit h them. My work with the Government kept me all over Central and Sout h America, and most of the time my only contact was with Washington DC . As mentioned before, time flys. H er brother Christopher, I have neve r met. He wasn't mine and I have not seen their mother since we split . One of these days, I'll renew with Claire and Tom. They're good peop le. ....Kirk"
Claire e-mailed Peter July 10, 2008;
"Hi Peter,
Let me start giving you some of the information that you requested, a s I was just able to verify it with my mother.
My father was stationed at Camp Lejune, N.C., that is where the US Mar ine Corp. comes in. My mother (Claire J. Baker) and father (Mac) me t on a train as he was returning to N.C. from Newark.
They were married June 19, 1954. He was discharged from the Marines, a nd moved to Flint, Michigan where he attended General Motors Tech., an d studied engineering. I was born Dec. 14, 1955. Mac became very inter ested in flying and started takin g lessons in Flint, where he got hi s flying credentials. Shortly before graduating from GM he decided tha t what he really wanted to do was fly, and did not finish the GM progr am. He sent my mother and me back to Boston, where her parents live d , and he pursued his flying career.
Mac must have made contacts in Guatemala City during this time, as h e and my mother decided that she and I would move down to Guatemala an d they would try again. This would have been in 1959.
At the time he was crop dusting with a bi-wing plane. He was not hom e very much as his work took him out of the city a lot. After that wa s when he had the air-service business at the airport, because I remem ber going to hanger. During this tim e I attended the American School a nd continued there for the 10 years I lived in Guatemala, an excellen t school which provided me with a bilingual education. When I was abou t 9 years old my parents decided to get divorced, as they seem to ha v e gone their separate ways; each of them remarried Guatemalan citizens . Shortly after that, my father moved to Liberia, Africa, with Gina, h is new wife. We remained in Guatemala until 1969 when we moved to An n Arbor, Michigan.
I'm not quite sure if my father had already joined Air America or no t at this point, but he definitely had by the time he went to VietNam . I have letters from these places, so I will try to find out more fo r you, and get back with you. Also Pet er, my mom said that you are wel come to call her if you have any questions that maybe I have not answe red. Her phone number is: ----- (Claire Sagastume). It was great chatt ing with you, sorry I'm a little slow, a lot going on right now, b u t I always have time for anything to do with family. I'll get more inf ormation to you as soon as I can.
Good luck, and keep in touch. Claire"
Another e-mail from Claire to Peter; Oct 23 2008
"Hi Peter,
Everything here is well, hectic as usual. Since I last communicated wi th you we started a master bath/master closet re-model and I had foo t surgery. The surgery went wonderful, and the re-model, well, is stil l going on (it seems more difficul t when you husband is the contractor ). I'm glad to hear all is well with you and your family.
Our trips: there were three. The first was in 1970, which Grandma Poll y (Adelaide) took me on a 6 week guided tour of Europe, starting in En gland, by bus, and finishing in Italy. Absolutely fabulous. The follow ing year both Kirk and Adelaide to ok me to the Far East during my Chri stmas Holiday, for about 4 weeks. I especially remember celebrating m y 16th birthday in Tokyo, which was our first stop. They had a Japanes e friend that joined us. After, we went to Kyoto and then Taipei an d M anila. Then we returned to Taipei where we spent Christmas. Grandpa (K irk) must have had some type of business he was taking care of durin g this trip as I met a couple more friends (Chinese) and one of thei r wives who joined us for dinner . Then it was on to Hong Kong and Bang kok and HuaHin. After this part of the trip we headed to Beirut and af ter that, home.This too was a wonderful experience, and I definitely g ot the impression that a lot of it was business, as Grandma an d I di d other things, like shopping, swimming and Kabuki Theater. The last t rip was with Grandma, to Greece. I was already in College, and I thin k it was because she had always wanted to go and had never had the opp ortunity, and she knew how m uch I loved Ancient History.
Every summer after we moved back to the States (1962-63) I would try t o go out and visit and I would spend a couple of weeks with them. Gran dma taught me calligraphy (which she did so beautifully) and Japanes e flower arranging (Ikibana) and Chi nese cooking with a real wok (in t hose days, that was impressive). We always managed to get in to New Yo rk at least once - by train, bus and subway, and go to the Metropolita n Museum, and could not come home unless we stopped at the Chuck-Full - O-Nuts and bought a dozen of their donuts. I also would help Grandpa i n the (home)office. This was after he had retired from his job in th e city (which he too rode the train into), and had resumed working a t home for Rife Hydraulic. I would h elp with typing letters, sending i nformation to people who requested it and general office work.
Well Peter, I hope this gives you a little bit of insight into their l ives. I will be getting the other paperwork off to you also. Sorry i t has taken me so long, and let me know what else you need, and if I c an help, I will. Another thing, I do n't think my father had a middle n ame. I distinctly remember Grandma Polly telling me they were going t o name him Kirk Patrick, but after he was born, she couldn't see givin g such a small child, such a long name, so they left it as Kirk McFar l in. What do you think?
Talk to you soon, Claire"
July 8 2009 Claire to Peter;
"Hi Peter and Karen,
Sorry I wasn't able to get back to you before you went off to Europe . Your Central American trip sounds fantastic as does your European o ne. The early spring is my time to be outdoors and prepare the yard an d gardens for the summer before th e heat sets in. I had a late start t his year as we went to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico in January on vacation.
Then I went out to be with my Mom in Jan. for her knee surgery, and ag ain in Feb. My daughter kept urging me to hurry and get the seeds plan ted or we would be late. Last year she and I discovered planting our o wn heirloom tomatoes, not to menti on numerous other curiosities. We ha ve rainbow colored beets and carrots, every kind of hot pepper you ca n imagine, peas, string beans, eggplant , numerous herbs-especially di fferent types of basil. So if I disappear off the the radar, I can pr o bably be found out in the garden. We have nothing structured, we jus t create as we go. This year we grew so many tomato plants (purple, wh ite, pink, black, etc.) that we just stuck them everywhere, includin g around our pool. To my daughter' s amazement, even though we were lat e, our plants have managed to catch up to everyone else's. Our tomatoe s are now the size of a pool ball. Christina is actually the one tha t pushes me to all the strange varieties, but since she lives and wor k s in Albuq. and mainly visits on week-ends, I stay pretty busy. I'll s end pictures as soon as I get out there and take some.
Your pictures of Guatemala are great. My Dad looks real well, and actu ally doesn't look much different. Marine life must agree with him.
We would love for you to stop by on you way through. It would be grea t to meet you both. Just keep me posted as to the dates you are planni ng on coming.
Take care, Claire"
April 8 2011, Karen and Peter stayed a night in their R/V at Claire Vi viani's home in Albuquerque. NM .
April 14 2011, email from Claire:
"...We so enjoyed meeting and spending time with you both. It really w as a treat, and it is great to know we have such lovely people as par t of our family. Thank you for sharing with us stories about your fami ly. Please keep us posted on everyo ne. We haven't forgotten the pictur es, will get them to you soon.
Be safe, and we hope you make it home in time for Easter.
Your Cousin Claire"
Claire's mother, Claire Sagestume, passed away August 19, 2011 at ag e 78. Peter had continued corresponding with her until just before sh e passed.
July 20 2019, Peter to Claire;
"Hi Claire,
(Don't know if this email will reach you?)
Hope all is well with you and yours?
I'm back to updating the stories about our McFarlin families. It's bee n 8 to 10 years since the last re-write of family info.
I do know that Polly McFarlin passed in 1999 and Everett B in 2001 - b oth in Houston
Your mother Claire passed in 2011 - have a nice obit for her with phot o. She was quite helpful with a few details about how she an Kirk Jr m et and their life in Guat. I found copies of your 1962 Pan Am immigrat ion cards when you returned with h er to Arlington, MA.
btw Is your middle name Joyce or Baker or something else?
Could you help me fill in any new stuff about;
You and Paul (more kids - ha ha?? events etc)
Christina (married, kids etc)
son Joseph Thomas (married kids etc)
And, of course, your father, my 1st cousin Kirk ("Mac"). I've heard th at he had returned from Guat with recent mini-strokes. I hope he is st ill OK?
I'll send these updated bio stories as pdfs on to you when done. (wit h pics and maybe sound clips from my 1974 interviews with Kirk and Pol ly in NJ)
I also have a very recent article I wrote for the MacFarlane Clan publ ication; Loch Sloy! In it are many parts and links to our MacFarlane h eritage and Archaeology of our ancient Loch Lomond castles and strongh olds which I have been involved wi th for the last ten years. It is a s earchable pdf. (Didn't your son have a MacF crest tattoo?) If this ema il reaches you OK then I'll send it along.
Karen and I are just fine; healthy and active. Moved three years ago f rom Woodstock, CT into a nice roomy new condo in nearby Putnam. See ou r nine grandkids often and still travel for three winter months to F L state and private parks in trust y R/V motor home. Even took a mont h in Colorado in it last Oct. Also rented a rural cabana in Hopkins, B elize for ten days in Dec 2018. Flew - not drove!!
We're planning a double cruise (one western Med and one eastern Med) f or 11 days each with 3 days in Rome between cruises. This for 25 day s in Sept coming. Various ports in different countries.
Send as much info as you care to for the update of these stories.
Many thanks
cousin Peter"
July 20 2019 Claire's e-mail to Peter;
"Hi Peter,
Yes, my email is still the same. So glad to hear from you and that yo u are still continuing with the McFarlin stories.
Let me see how I can help.
I am married to Thomas Paul Viviani (Tom). Have two children, Christin a Michelle born in 1985, and Joseph Thomas born in 1989.
Christina is married to Daniel Lloyd Jones, from Wales, UK. They hav e two girls, Nia Claire Lloyd Jones and Alexandra Eiry Lloyd Jones an d live in Albuquerque. Christina works for Abbot Medical Devices.
Joseph is still single, and yes he has the tattoo of the McFarlin cres t, This I will defend. He is a trained chef, but has taken a break fro m that for awhile and is flipping houses in the Denver area with his a unt.
I am Claire Joyce McFarlin Viviani, and my mother was Claire Joyce Bak er (McFarlin, then Sagastume).
Tom and I still have T.Viviani Construction, but are doing just enoug h to keep him semi busy. I help our daughter with their kids, and in t he summer spend a lot of time in the garden. We too have been enjoyin g a little bit of traveling. Two yea rs ago went to Italy for a coupl e of weeks and last year went to Spain for a couple of weeks.
I haven’t heard from my father for a couple of months, so I don’t kno w how he is doing. He had told me about the stroke and had stopped smo king, and he said he was trying to sell the house in Guatemala and mov e back to the States.
Thanks for the update, let me know if there is anything else I can hel p you with. Will be looking forward to reading the PDFs and anything e lse you send.
Many thanks to you,
Claire"
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d. 19 Aug 2011, Detroit, Wayne, Michigan, USA