Harriette “Happy” Clarke Thorne, longtime resident of Darien, passed on Sept. 6, 2025 in Swampscott, Massachusetts, due to the side effects of Living, Laughing and Loving for over a century.
Harriette “Happy” Clarke, 100, passed away on Sept. 6. Her funeral will be on Sept. 27 at Noroton Presbyterian Church.
Born April 13, 1925 in Atlanta, Georgia, she was the first of two daughters of Frank Clarke and Georgia Crane Clarke. Her father was with Pittsburgh Plate Glass company and the family lived in Atlanta; Louisville, Kentucky; Webster Groves, Missouri; Ben Avon, Pennsylvania and Greenwich.
After graduating from Avonworth High School in Ben Avon, she attended Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, Virginia, for two years, then transferred to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, where she was graduated with a B.A. in English in 1947.
While at Chapel Hill, she was a member of Chi Omega Sorority and chairman of the Campus “Y” Social Justice Committee. During this time, she picked-up the nickname “Happy” and also demonstrated her lifelong ability to remember names: During Rush Week at Chi Omega, Happy stood next to the greeter as girls introduced themselves — if a girl returned later in the week, Happy would greet her by her first name.
When the Clarke family moved to Greenwich, Harriette was certified by the Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School in New York City and hired by Young and Rubicam Advertising Agency as secretary to Milford Baker, a senior vice president, who also was head of the building committee for Noroton Presbyterian Church.
When her future husband, Bill, spoke of marriage, she would joke that her answer would be: Yes, if she could live in Darien and belong to the Noroton Presbyterian Church.
On May 13, 1950, she married that Bill, William Arnold Thorne, of Crestwood, New York and they lived in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas before moving back East to live in Stamford, then Darien, to raise their four children (who of course all went to Sunday School at Noroton Presbyterian Church).
They were founding members of Middlesex Swim Club and later joined the Country Club of Darien.
Happy was a Girl Scout and Boy Scout leader; active in school parent groups; founding member of Chi Omega Alums of Fairfield County and “Yankee Maids” Chapter of Sweet Adelines. On boards of the American Red Cross, Community Concerts and Good Wives Chapter of the DAR. Volunteer for Red Cross Blood Drives and Meals on Wheels. At Noroton Presbyterian Church she was an elder, a deacon, Church School teacher, circle leader and member of Senior Groups.
The family travelled to every U.S. state, Happy and Bill played golf, took cruises and traveled all over the world. The happy marriage lasted 55 years until Bill’s passing in 2005. A close friend of both Happy and Bill’s, John Hamilton, later became Happy’s close companion until his passing in 2017.
In 2021, after years of driving friends to doctor and other appointments, Happy grew uncomfortable with driving and moved from Darien to the Residence at Vinnin Square in Swampscott, Massachusetts, near her sons, Billy and Charlie.
Happy is survived by her children: Barbara Thorne and her husband, Pat Keziah; Billy Thorne and his wife, Sue; Charlie Thorne and his wife, Nancy; and Happy’s grandchildren: Paul Thorne-Keziah and wife ,Lena; Dean, Evan, Wesley, Monica Thorne, and and husband Ian Duncan, Ben and Sam Thorne; and her great-grandchildren: Grace, Daniel, Gloria and Joshua.
She was predeceased by her daughter, Peggy; husband, Bill; granddaughter, Erica Thorne-Keziah; sister, Margaret Clarke Kirk; and companion, John Hamilton.
A funeral service will be held at 2 p.m., Sept. 27 at the Noroton Presbyterian Chapel in Darien.
Donations can be made to the Horton Scholarship Fund of the Noroton Presbyterian Church.
— an obituary from Lawrence Funeral Home, where online condolences may be left