Claire Hoiland Amsden

With great sorrow we announce the loss of Claire Louise Sophie Hoiland Amsden on November 18, 2023, in Portland Oregon.

Claire was born May 17, 1926, in Minneapolis to her Norwegian-American parents, Angell and Clara (Overby) Hoiland. She was the eldest sibling to her sister, Ann, and brother, John. The children lost their father in 1934, leaving Clara to raise them on her own.

Destined for a life in journalism, Claire wrote for the school newspaper at Washburn High and graduated in Journalism from the University of Minnesota in 1948. She ventured west as a feature writer with the Missoulian daily in Missoula, Montana. Visiting Denver with friends, she toured the Denver Post, joking to the tour guide about landing a job. She was dropped off at personnel, interviewed, and hired as a women’s news reporter. She met her future husband, Forest, also a journalist, in the staff dining room. They wed in 1953.

The couple moved to Coos Bay, Oregon, where Claire reported for the Coos Bay World, alongside her editor husband. She continued writing until giving birth to Christopher in 1956, Elizabeth in 1958, and William in 1961. The family followed Forest’s career moves, to Washington DC, Salem, and Portland in in 1963.

Claire was passionate about supporting her kids and husband, from being a Cub Scout Den Mother to hosting management holiday parties. The family enjoyed weekend and summer boating adventures on the Columbia River and San Juan Islands, as well as camping and salmon fishing on the Oregon Coast. When Forest was tied up at work, Claire took her kids on a road trip to Minnesota and Yellowstone Park, as well as many ski excursions to Mt. Hood, often over treacherous roads. Through good times and bad, Claire enthusiastically supported her children and husband in all their projects and endeavors, routinely exclaiming, “This is the best you have done yet!”

Like many women of her era, Claire was torn between pressure to stay at home and her desire to contribute more to the community. She volunteered for many causes, including the League of Women Voters and the Mayor’s Office. As her children grew older, she took courses in Social Work at Portland State University starting in 1971. In 1973, she returned to the workforce as Director of the Hillsboro Senior Center, managing senior services and Meals on Wheels. Eventually, she returned to journalism, reporting for the Hillsboro Argus, and then for the Mercer Island Reporter.

Claire was an enthusiastic community member and internationalist. She volunteered for the World Affairs Council of Oregon, hosting visitors from many continents and cultures. She encouraged her children to travel and live abroad. A proud member of Portland’s Scandinavian-American community, she edited the Scandinavian Heritage Foundation newsletter for many years, earning the President’s Award for her dedication to the organization, now Nordic Northwest, in 2003. Claire was a 60-year member of the First Unitarian Universalist Church.

After Forest passed in 1990, Claire became a prolific traveler and genealogist, making multiple trips to Europe and Asia. She visited Norway frequently to visit friends and relatives, and to research family history. Her cheerful, uninhibited personality and interest in other people and cultures made her dozens of lifetime friends wherever she traveled.

Claire was the last surviving Hoiland of her generation. She traveled to attend her nieces’ and nephews’ weddings and other family events well into her 80s. At 90, she provided fascinating details for a cousin’s book documenting the family’s history in America before those memories could be lost.

Claire is survived by her children Chris (Niki), Betsy, Bill (Michiko), as well as loving grandchildren, Forest (Anna), Christopher, Nicholas, Karina, and Bella, and great grandson, Sylas. She will also be dearly missed by dozens of nieces, nephews, and their families spread across America, Norway, and England.

Claire’s life will be celebrated at 2 pm on April 20, 2024 at the First Unitarian Church in downtown Portland, on 12th & Salmon Street. A reception at the church will immediately follow. In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to a cause that you shared with Claire.

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