The mystery of Frank Clair

When I started exploring Weston Cemetery on Findagrave.com a few years ago, I noticed that the site listed two famous people buried there. One was Charles Halleck and the other was a person I had never heard of, Frank Clair. His entry said that he had been a very successful coach in the Canadian Football League. I could not figure out what connection he had with Rensselaer nor could I find any record of his burial in Weston Cemetery. (You can find links to those burial records here.)

Eventually I found a marker for him because his daughter did have a burial record. But I still could not figure out how he was linked to Rensselaer and if he was actually buried there.

On Friday I discovered that he had not been buried in Weston Cemetery, at least not until this past spring. That is when his ashes and those of his wife were interred in the plot and the death dates were added to the marker. A search of the Internet revealed the obituary of his wife and the connection to Rensselaer.

Patricia Clair's maiden name was Bausman and her parents and brother are also buried in Weston. (I am pretty sure that sister Betty is in the adjacent grave.) Her brother was a notable athlete when he was in high school; his record for long jump set in 1936 has never been broken.

So a person famous for coaching in the Canadian football league is actually buried in our local cemetery though he never seems to have lived in Rensselaer.

(Another football player of some note who is buried in Weston Cemetery is George Zorich.)