Mrs. Ann K. (Clarke) Harber died Sunday, January 12, 2025, at Metrowest Medical Center. She was 92.
Born on February 29, 1932 in Waltham, she was a daughter of the late Thomas F. and Kathleen (Golden) Clarke. Raised in Newton, she graduated from Newton North High School, Class of 1949, and then attended secretarial school in Boston. She worked as a secretary at Raytheon Corp. until she and her husband started their family. She married Ralph H. Harber on September 20, 1952, at Corpus Christi Church in Auburndale and they made Framingham their home for over 70 years.
Ann stayed at home to raise her six children. She was active in her kids’ activities in school and beyond, including Girl Scouts as a volunteer and Cub Scouts as a Den Mother. A member of Saint George’s Parish, she taught in its CCD program. Her happy place was at their second home in Dennis on Cape Cod where many special memories were made on Nobscussett Beach. She was a voracious reader and loved working in her vegetable and flower gardens on the Cape. She and Ralph loved hosting gatherings, not limited to just holidays, and she was the consummate hostess and a fantastic cook. Ann loved the house filled with the love and laughter of family and friends.
Perhaps one of the many loving ways in which she will be remembered is by the countless handwritten notes and cards she would send to family and friends. For many years she used a fountain pen with a unique blue ink. Often with an update or words of support and encouragement, her distinctive penmanship was perfection…a lost art today.
In addition to her beloved husband, Ralph († April 29, 2006) and their son, David Harber († June 18, 2017) she was predeceased by her granddaughter’s husband, Richard Lopez and her siblings, Marie Siwick (late Carl) and John ‘Jack’ Clarke (late Louise).
She leaves her children, Stephen Harber (Helen) of Morehead City, North Carolina, Kenneth Harber (Robin) of Berlin, MA and Robert Harber (Lindsey) of Upton, Deborah Jones of Framingham, and Judith Callahan (Paul) of Framingham; her grandchildren, Sheryl Lopez, John Harber, Samuel Harber, Amanda Sullivan (Warren), Stacey Lougee (Wayne), Amy Capobianco (Fred Hurlbrink), Emma Jones and William Callahan; great-grandchildren, Nelson, Colin, Remus, Orion, Linkin, Abby and Connor; her sister-in-law, Jane Harber of Atlanta, Georgia; and many nieces & nephews.
Family and friends will honor and remember Ann’s life by gathering for visiting hours at the McCarthy, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home, 11 Lincoln St. Framingham on Thursday, January 16 th from 4 – 7 pm. Her Funeral Mass will be celebrated on Friday morning at St. George Church, 74 School St., Framingham at 10:00 a.m. Burial is Tuesday, January 21st at Massachusetts National Cemetery in Bourne at 12:30 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, as Ann loved all children, expressions of sympathy may be made to St. Jude’s Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, TN 38105, www.stjude.org
To share a memory with the Harber Family, kindly visit www.mccarthyfh.com
Norton, McKinney & Lawler Funeral Home