Claire Ann Wignall Bench was born on February 21, 1927, in North Attleboro, Massachusetts, to Vincent Joseph Wignall and Mary Elizabeth Leonard Wignall.
Claire graduated from high school in Wrentham, MA, and graduated as a Registered Nurse from Rhode Island Hospital School of Nursing in Providence, RI. She worked in hospitals in Alaska, Massachusetts, Florida and Texas for 20 years.
Claire married J.T. Bench on July 4, 1952, in Clovis, New Mexico. They moved to Seymour in September 1962. She was a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church, where she was a member of the Sacred Heart Altar Society.
Claire was preceded in death by her parents, her husband J.T. Bench, her son David Bench, her daughter Ellen Bench Riegle, and her 2 sisters, Jeanne McCullough and Madeleine Hamm.
She is survived by her son Terry Bench and his wife Belinda, of Seymour, and her daughters Jeannie Bench and her husband Victor Yep of Anchorage, AK, Mary Bench Smith and her husband Floyd of Lindsay, TX, and Donna Bench Novak and her husband Jim Anders of Childress, TX, 5 grandsons, 2 granddaughters, 3 great-grandsons and 1 great-granddaughter.
In lieu of flowers donations are requested for: Sacred Heart Catholic Church, Hospice of Wichita Falls, and Meals on Wheels.