Claire DePalma, 92, of St. Louis, Missouri passed away November 11, 2025 after a long, hard-fought battle with a chronic illness, surrounded by the love of her family.
Beloved wife of her late husband, Alfred DePalma. She is survived by her loving daughters Angie Butz (Steve), Barb DePalma and Chris DePalma (Jim Hennessey); beloved grandchildren Adam Butz (Jess), Kevin Butz (Lauren), Hannah Ehrlich (Mike), Maria Butz (Kirby Montgomery), Natalie Butz, Grace Butz, Jessie Hebron, Myra (Beth) Teshome, Henok Tesfaye, Elianna Hennessey, Jordan Hennessey, Otton Hennessey, Jessica Greene (Ricky); and treasured great-grandchildren Ezra Butz, Claire Butz, Abraham Butz, Audrey Butz, Evelyn Butz, Zach Ehrlich, Ada Ehrlich, Simone Montgomery, Anton Montgomery, George Montgomery and Ja’Mira Teshome.
A Mass will be held Saturday, November 22 at 10 a.m. at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 5020 Rhodes Avenue. Mass will be preceded by a visitation in the church from 9-10 a.m.
In lieu of flowers, please consider making a donation to one of Claire’s favorite charities: Father Bob’s Outreach www.fatherbobsoutreach.com; Today and Tomorrow Educational Foundation www.ttef-stl.org, or Our Lady’s Inn www.ourladysinn.org
Claire was an avid gardener. Plants were her pride and joy and she spent countless hours caring for many varieties ranging from common plants to the most exotic. For many years, she was responsible for planting, cultivating, nurturing and maintaining beautiful plants in the Missouri Botanical Garden greenhouses. She could easily tell you the type of each plant and what kind of care it needed to ensure the best and proper care possible was given to each of her “green children”. For more than 15 years, Claire was responsible for creating and maintaining 2 beautiful atrium areas in the Mackenzie Office Building. She was always excited to show off her hard work and green thumb and to teach people about the many plants in her beloved atriums. Her love of plants also carried over to her home where every room was filled with beautiful plants that would be carefully and lovingly watered weekly.
Music was a passion of Claire’s. She was a long-time member of the St. John the Baptist Church choir, where she sang at countless Masses and helped form the renown handbell choir. She was always in the first row of the choir loft eagerly waving to her family and friends below. Claire treasured her many long-time and very dear choir friends and rarely, if ever, missed a Mass in order to be with them and to make beautiful music.
From a young age, Claire became involved in Our Lady of Sorrows parish. Starting as a secretary in the rectory, Claire became a member of the Legion of Mary where she met Alfred, fell in love, got married in the church and raised three daughters who graduated from Our Lady of Sorrows school. She and Alfred were very active in numerous parish organizations and spent much time at church functions. Claire was a long-time member of the church choir and enjoyed learning new music as well as singing the familiar favorites. For many years, Claire worked tirelessly at the monthly First Thursday Quilt Socials while also sharing her creative talents as a member of the quilter’s group, creating beautiful quilts to help raise money for the parish. She remained a parishioner until her passing and “attended” weekly Sunday Mass from Our Lady of Sorrows via the Internet.
Claire loved her group of lifelong friends who often kept in touch with her until the end. She also loved her family and was proud of her three daughters and their families. She was exceptionally proud of her grandchildren and great-grandchildren and loved receiving simple notes, cards, photos or a quick phone call from them. A simple “hi” and “thinking of you” from them would make her smile for days.
Claire fought hard and courageously against a chronic illness for a long time. She is deeply missed and leaves a huge void in the lives of her family and many friends. Her family extends its very deep gratitude to her medical and hospice teams and especially to the exceptional caregivers provided by Martha’s Hands who cared for her and treated her with the highest respect and dignity.
In memory of Claire, please do a nice deed for someone, smile at or help someone just because you can, hug your loved ones a little tighter and more often, and tell people frequently that you love them.