Clara Theresa Keenan

Clara Theresa Keenan, 87, of Brentwood, TN, formerly of Farmington Hills, passed away on Friday, May 26th, 2017. Clara was born on August 31st, 1929 in New York, NY to the late Pasquale and Giovanna (nee Cerilla) Caprara. She moved to Detroit with her family at the age of 12. Clara attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit, concentrating in Dress and Fashion Design, and graduated in January 1947. She married Philip M. Keenan at St. Margaret Mary Church in Detroit on October 18th, 1950. He preceded her in death in October 1991.

Clara was a talented seamstress, working on stitching automotive seat covers in earlier years and enjoying making clothes and elaborate window dressings for clients, friends, and family throughout her life. She also worked as an Electronic Circuit Board assembler at Burroughs Corporation and retired from there in 1988 after 30 years of service. While at Burroughs, she worked on parts for Atlas rockets and some of the very first ATM machines.

She enjoyed traveling, sewing, cooking, playing cards, and gardening. Most of all, she loved spending time with her family and friends. She took great pride in building and decorating their “dream home” with Phil and took great pleasure in decorating for the holidays and entertaining friends and family.

Clara is survived by her children Robert (Amy) Keenan and Marianne (Brett) Nagy; grandchildren Alyssa Nagy, Ashton Nagy, and Philip Keenan; sister Julia Caprara; and sister-in-law Rosa Caprara. In addition to her beloved husband Phil, Clara was preceded in death by her brother Nello Caprara, sister Josephine (the late Martin) Walker, and her nephew Martin (Marty) Walker, Jr.

Visitation will be held from on Friday, June 2nd from 2:00pm to 8:00pm, with a Rosary at 7:00pm at Harry J Will Funeral Home, 37000 W. 7 Mile Rd., Livonia, MI. Clara will lie in-state on Saturday, June 3rd from 10:00am until the Funeral Mass begins at 10:30am at St. Edith Catholic Church, 15089 Newburgh Rd., Livonia, MI. Interment will be at Glen Eden Memorial Park, 35667 W. 8 Mile Rd., Livonia, MI.

Memorial donations are appreciated to Catholic Relief Services (www.crs.org) or the Breast Cancer Research Foundation (bcrfcure.org).