ONTARIO
Claudia Kay Montague Widmer, 72, cherished wife, mother, Nana and friend died at her home in Ontario, OR on June 13, 2021 after a short battle with metastatic breast cancer and chronic lymphocytic leukemia.
Claudia was born February 25, 1949 in Tacoma, WA to Lloyd Montague and Blanche Peterson. She was the only child of their union. Her early years were spent in WA and AK as Lloyd was stationed there. Blanche and Claudia moved to Vale, OR in the mid 1950âs to care for Blancheâs aging parents. She graduated from Vale Union H.S. in 1967, then went to TVCC in Ontario before transferring to Oregon College of Education in Monmouth, OR where she completed her bachelorâs degree in English with her teaching certificate in 1971. She completed her student teaching at North Salem High School in Salem, OR then taught her 1st full year 1971-1972 at North Marion High School in Aurora, OR where she taught English, Drama, and Speech. She obtained her masterâs degree in English and Creative Writing from Lewis and Clark College in Portland, OR in 1973. She then came back home to Vale and taught at Adrian High School while caring for her mother Blanche. While visiting Corvallis, OR in 1976 she met her future husband James. She came home the summer of 1977 to be closer to her mother and worked at the Vale BLM office. She was re-introduced to James that summer.