Claudette S Nadra
Claudette Nadra died on March 22, 2023 following a long and valiant struggle with a rare neurodegenerative disease known as Progressive Supranuclear Palsy (PSP). She was born in Detroit on June 3 1939 to a father of German decent and a French Canadian mother.
A deeply caring person, Claudette’s education and work history focussed on social work, education, and volunteer work. She graduated from Wayne State University in Detroit, where she acquired a Bachelors degree majoring in sociology, and a Masters of Social Work. Early in her career, she worked at Brooklyn Friends School, where she held many different positions, including substitute teacher, Assistant to the Principal, and Director of Admissions and Financial Aid. Following a year of psychiatric training at the Gestalt Training Institute in New York City, she was employed by the League School Day Treatment Center in Brooklyn, where she worked as a therapist helping emotionally disturbed children and their families, while also training new social work interns at Columbia University’s School of Social Work as an Adjunct Professor. Following a move to Houston, Claudette was a volunteer social worker at the Hospice of the Texas Medical Center where she worked with AIDS patients both at the in-patient care unit and in their homes. When her husband’s career expanded, she applied her extensive social skills to become an invaluable partner engaged in fund-raising, entertaining, and public relations as they moved from New York to Houston to Cleveland to Santa Barbara.
Claudette was an exceptional cook, but also enjoyed dining out. Following an unusually good meal in a restaurant, she would sometimes reproduce it in her home a few days later, solely based on her recollection of what she had tasted, without any knowledge of the recipe.
An avid outdoor person, a birder, and an enthusiastic hiker, Claudette loved Santa Barbara, California, and the American Southwest. She was especially fond of the California deserts and made many excursions into the Eastern Sierras, Death Valley, and Anza Borrego.
She will be remembered for the care she gave generously to others, her lust for life, and her wonderful sense of adventure. She is survived by her husband, David Auston; a son by a former marriage, Dylan Hill; and two brothers, Robert Nadra, and William Nadra.