Claraine R. King

Quietly, on January 29, 2019, Claraine King transitioned on to her heavenly mansion.  Mrs. King, lovingly called Clar was born Pittsburgh, PA on October 26, 1962 to parents Roosevelt and Willie Lee Russell.  Clar was one of four children from the couple's thirteen year union.

Claraine was raised on the South Side of Pittsburgh in the St. Clair Village community.  Clar began her walk with God as a teenager.  She was baptized and filled with the Holy Spirit through Christ Chapel Apostolic Church when she was 13 and she was very active in both the Sunday school and youth ministries.  She graduated from Carrick High School in 1980 and later attended Duff's Business School for her post secondary education in administrative studies.  This education led to her employment as a clerk with the Pittsburgh Board of Education from 1981 to 1989 in the purchasing department.  Claraine extended her administrative career in the winter of 1989 becoming a budget checker with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and then; was later promoted to her position as an income maintenance worker until 2006.

Claraine was passionate about many things, but she was most passionate about her family.  In 1996 she married Alonzo Richard King III beginning a union that lasted until 2014. Claraine's three children were the lights of her life and are her greatest living legacy and success story; however, her strength and determination, while enduring the challenges of illness for over 24 years, has served as an example of immovable faith and unconquerable courage for not only her children, but to all her family and friends.

Claraine was preceded in death by her mother Willie Lee Russell in 1995, but embodied both the physical characteristics and assertive tenacity of her mother.  She is survived by her father, Roosevelt Russell; her brother Roosevelt J. Russell, Jr. and his wife Barbara; two sisters, Regina Russell and Sherri Rose Russell; three children, Cassiee Denise Russell, Rose Lynn Russell and Isaiah Richard Russell; one grandson, Jeramai Dorian Russell-Johnson, one niece, Raina Nicole Russell, three great nephews, one great great nephew; her fiance' Stephen Foglia and a host of cousins, relatives and friends.

Claraine's sense of humor, highlighted by her unique laughter and welcoming smile, touched everyone who was ever around her.  Her strength and determination was reflected in her spiritual belief in the Almighty, her incomparable professionalism and work ethic and her inexhaustible love and support towards her family.  Even though she has moved on from her earthly vessel, she has left us a lifetime of memories, an endless treasure chest of smiles and an eternal portion of her LOVE.

                                          "No matter how the wind howls, the mountain cannot bow to it"

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of Claraine R. King, please visit our floral store.