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DREESEN, CLARE SWAYNE Clare Swayne Dreesen, 95, died on November 16, 2014 after a very long struggle with Alzheimer's disease. Clare was born on December 8, 1918 in Albuquerque, the youngest child of William and Florence Edith Swayne. Clare (Clara Alma) graduated from Albuquerque High School and the University of New Mexico (UNM) in 1940. She was a public school teacher in Albuquerque, Fence Lake, and Jal, NM. She was a secretary at UNM in the early 1940s for Dr. E.J Workman in the Physics Department, which was developing the proximity fuse technology for antiaircraft shells. She met her soon-to-be husband, Donald Stanley Dreesen, while working at UNM and then followed him to work on the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos, NM. She was the secretary for Dr. Robert Bacher, the leader of G "Gadget" Division, which was responsible for the experimentation and design of the implosion bomb. While in Los Alamos she married Don and in 1946 they moved to Albuquerque where he became one of the early employees of Sandia Corporation (Sandia National Laboratory) and where Clare worked briefly as a secretary until she became a homemaker. She raised two sons in Albuquerque and Cedar Crest, NM where she and Don lived for 20 years. As her boys required less of her time, she became the primary caretaker for her parents for several years. After her parents passed she became a companion for her elderly aunts, friends, and neighbors. She visited them, took them shopping, and transported them to appointments when they were no longer able to drive. Clare was preceded in death by her husband, Don, and by her brothers William and James. She is survived by her son, Don, and his wife, Betty, of Los Alamos, NM; her son, David, and his wife, Martha, of Belen, NM; her granddaughter, Wendi Dreesen, and her husband, Aric Tibbitts, and their son, Emmitt, of Los Alamos, NM; and her grandson, David I. Dreesen, of Los Alamos, NM. As requested by Clare, no public services are planned. Arrangements are entrusted to: Daniels Family Funeral Services, 7601 Wyoming Blvd. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, (505) 821-0010, www.danielsfuneral.com
        Published on: Sun November 30, 2014