Obituary: Former State Representative Carol Cleven, 86

Obituary from Blake Funeral Home

Carol C. Cleven, 86, died on March 12, 2015. She is survived by her son Kern; her son Jeffrey and his wife Mary and grandson Stone; her sister Eileen Buss and her husband Herbert of Lincoln, NE; two sisters-in-law, Lois Chapman of Hilton Head, SC and Betsy Chapman of Kingwood, TX; and numerous nieces and nephews. Her late husband, Walter A. Cleven, and her two brothers, Frank W. Chapman and Ned E. Chapman, predeceased her.

Carol was the daughter of Edward W. and Vivian (Strasser) Chapman. She was born November 2nd, 1928 in Hanover, IL, where she attended public grade and high schools. Following high school graduation she attended Platteville (WI) State College during the summer of 1946, following which she taught all eight grades for one year in a one-room schoolhouse in Derinda, IL. She resumed her college work at the University of Illinois Galesburg campus in 1947, where she met her husband Walter, and in 1948 moved on to the main University of Illinois campus in Champaign-Urbana, IL.

Carol and Walter were married in Champaign on June 5th, 1949. She received her undergraduate degree in 1950 and pursued graduate work in Human Nutrition. At the University she was a Research Associate in both the areas of Human Nutrition and Food Technology. Their first son, Kern, was born in Champaign in 1955. Carol and Walt relocated to Santa Monica, CA in 1956. Their second son, Jeffrey, was born in Los Angeles in 1957. In 1959 the family relocated to Chelmsford.

In 1967, Carol was selected by the National YWCA as one of a group of twenty-five women to participate in an Around-The-World Study-Tour, traveling to thirteen countries, and focusing on the changing role of women in Third World countries. The experience had a lasting impact on her goals and priorities.

Following her return from the Study-Tour, Carol was elected in 1969 to the first of six terms on the Chelmsford School Committee, serving for a total of eighteen years, until 1987. During that time, she also served on Building Committees for the High School and the Byam and Westlands Elementary Schools. Carol also served as a Chelmsford Town Meeting Representative.

Carol was the Executive Director of the Crittenton Hastings House and Clinic in Brighton for eleven years, prior to running for election as State Representative.

Carol served as State Representative for Chelmsford for a total of sixteen years, representing the 16th Middlesex District. During that time, the District also included the communities of Tyngsborough (4 years), the Pawtucketville portion of Lowell (4 years), and Carlisle (8 years). Carol’s maiden speech on the floor of the Massachusetts House of Representatives was given on May 7, 1987 in support of her bill, H.1455, “An Act Creating the Honorable Bruce N. Freeman Memorial Bike Path.”

Carol was involved in numerous volunteer activities: President of the Lowell YWCA, Chair of the Lowell YWCA Camp Weetamoo, Treasurer of the Florence Crittenton League of Lowell, President of the Crittenton Hastings House in Brighton, member of the Board of Directors of the Lowell Association for the Blind and the Lowell General Hospital Auxiliary, President of the Lowell College Club, member of the Special Advisory Board to the Director of CTI, member of the Boards of the Greater Lowell Alzheimer’s Association as well as the Massachusetts Alzheimer’s Association, member of the Merrimack Valley Economic Development Council, member of the Board of The Paul Center for Learning and Recreation, and Deaconess of the Central Congregational Church in Chelmsford.

She also served as a member of the Board of the Massachusetts Health Policy Forum sponsored by the Heller School, Brandeis University, the Advisory Board for Programs for Women in Politics and Government at UMASS, and as Treasurer of the Boston Center for Blind Children.

During her terms as State Representative, Carol served as the Dean of the Republican Caucus, Co-Chair of the Legislative Caucus on Older Citizens’ Concerns, Chair of the Massachusetts Caucus of Women Legislators, and as the legislative member of the Governor’s Adolescent Health Advisory Council. She also served as a member of the Department of Public Health Osteoporosis Advisory Board, the Governor’s Advisory Board on Alzheimer’s, the Special Committee on Women in the Criminal Justice System, and the Special Committee on Health Care in the Prisons. Her major Joint Committee appointments included Education, Humanities and the Arts, Health Care, Human Services and Elderly Affairs, Public Service, Federal Financial Assistance, Housing and Urban Development, Election Laws, and House Rules. During her terms as State Representative, she maintained the issues of Education, Women, Children, Elders, Human Services, and Domestic Violence Prevention as her legislative priorities.

Over the years, Representative Cleven’s work and accomplishments were recognized and praised by colleagues, constituents, and agencies that she served. Among the numerous awards and honors she received was recognition in “Who’s Who in American Women” for many years, and as an Honorary Life Member of the Massachusetts Association of School Committees. The Women’s Bar Association of Massachusetts recognized her as 1996 Legislator of the Year, and the Chelmsford High School Alumni Association awarded her their Golden Lion Award in 2004.

Visiting hours will be Monday evening from 4 to 8 pm at the Blake Funeral Home, 24 Worthen St., Chelmsford. A Funeral Service will be held on Tuesday at 1 o’clock at the Central Congregational Church, UCC, One Worthen St. Chelmsford. Please meet at the church. Interment will follow in West Chelmsford Cemetery, Chelmsford. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, P.O. Box 1192, Concord, MA 01742 or www.brucefreemanrailtrail.org.