Clara Steiner, 83, passed away April 14, 2014 in Anchorage, Alaska from natural causes. 

She was born in Somerville (30 Nov 1930), to Howard and Ertie Deffendall. In 1950, she married her high school sweetheart and third generation farmer, Tom Steiner. 

They began their life together by driving a Willys Jeep from Princeton to their final destination in Anchorage, Alaska. 

They proceeded to build a house together and raised their six children in Spenard. Clara enjoyed a long career with the FAA as an Air Traffic Control Specialist at Merrill Field. She enjoyed traveling and made numerous trips to Japan during her lifetime where she had many close friends. She loved gardening, arts and crafts, beach combing on the Kenai Peninsula and researching family geneology. 

After her retirement from the FAA, she and Tom frequently traveled to Indiana where Tom managed the Steiner family farm. Following Tom’s death in 2003, Clara took over management of the family farm in Indiana. She tackled her new responsibilities with the same tenacity she had for everything in her life.  

She is preceded in death by her husband, Tom; sons Keith and David Steiner; and her brothers Donald, Richard and Russell Deffendall;  She is survived by her children: Rod Steiner of Anchorage; Ronda Dodd of Sterling, Tracy Steiner of Anchorage and Lisa Dickson of Glendale, Ariz.; six grandchildren; five great grandchildren; her sister Ceba Kay Harris of Dallas, Texas; and brothers, Tony and Farley Deffendall of Princeton,.