Claudia J. (Lent) BOUTCHYARD

LENT, BOUTCHYARD, LENT-BOUTCHYARD, WALTERS, CATTON, MCCOY, PARKER, SKYRME

Posted By: Sarah Thorson Little (email)
Date: 4/2/2011 at 11:02:25

September 23, 1942 - March 30, 2011

Claudia J. Lent-Boutchyard
Claudia went home to be with the Lord on March 30th, after suffering from Multiple Sclerosis for more than 16 years and being bed-ridden for over 11 years. Claudia was born in Belmond, Iowa to parents Claude and Ethel Lent on September 23, 1942 preceded by 11 minutes by her twin brother, Clair Dean. She grew up in several north central Iowa farming communities attending local public schools. According to her own testimony she accepted the Lord as her Savior when she was 11 and always wanted to be a missionary nurse. Her move from Floyd school to nearby Charles City high school in 1956 facilitated her graduation in 1960. While in high school, she was very active in music, winning the coveted Damuco song contest in her junior year for "On Yonder Hill". After a brief stint at Mason City Junior College, she met a young Air Force lieutenant in 1962. They were married in Cheyenne, Wyoming on Feb 16, 1963. From then on it was the constant military shuffle from one assignment to the next. She and her family (husband, children- Steve, Michelle, Jeff and Eric) came to Lompoc for the first time in 1975. The final assignment to Omaha, NE brought about the retirement for her husband, now a Lt. Col., in August 1983. The following year, the family moved back to Lompoc to stay. Claudia enjoyed the traveling, visiting states from coast to coast as well as exotic places such as Hawaii, Japan/Okinawa and Hong Kong. Her biggest frustration was constantly pulling up roots, leaving good friends and musical involvement in local civic and church groups. Besides music, Claudia was a very prolific poetry writer being published in numerous poetry books and the Lompoc Record. Her artistic bent was also exhibited in her passion for painting. Claudia saw her ministry as music and expressing her faith through poetry. Besides being a soloist in chapels and churches, she was involved in choirs, trios and scheduling music at Calvary Baptist in Vandenberg Village during the late 1970's.

She is survived by Fred, her husband of 48 years; sons Steven of Omaha, NE and Eric of Lompoc; daughters Suzi Walters of Champlin, MN and Michelle Catton of Bellevue, NE; brothers Chuck Lent of The Villages, FL and Clair Lent of Seldovia, AK; sisters Rosalie McCoy of Hampton, IA, Marilyn Parker of Kernersville, NC and JoAn Skyrme of Belmond, IA; eight grandchildren, a niece and several nephews. She was preceded in death by Claude Lent, her father, in 1965 ; Ethel Lent, her mother, in 1992; two brothers, Ralph Lent (1936) and Virgil Lent (1957) and son Jeffrey Scot Boutchyard in 1984.

This poem, written by Claudia, expresses her thoughts about being "home".

HOME
Lord, I come into the soft purity of your presence….
asking that You brush off the dust from my earthly journey.
.
Replace the sparkle that once shone in my eyes.
Remove my tarnish so I'll be a clear reflection of You.

I've waited so long to touch Your face and
feel the warmth of Your hand.
Your voice, Dear God, Your voice I've heard it before and now,
my Lord, I'll hear it for all eternity!

Your home is warm, Lord God,
with the gentleness of all the love I've ever known.
Your light is clean, not blinding.

My eyes can see clearly.
Now I'm HOME!

The visitation will be on Monday, April 4, from 4:00pm-8:00pm with the funeral service on Tuesday, April 5, at 10:00am in the chapel of the Starbuck-Lind Mortuary. The interment will follow in the Lompoc Evergreen Cemetery.

Lompoc Record -- Lompoc, California
April 2, 2011