Born May 21, 1960, Claire was the fifth of seven children of Bud & Kay Finley. After attending St. David School in Willow Grove, she went on to Archbishop Wood High School in Warminster, where she was active in sports and was the president of the Athletic Association. She attended Montgomery County Community College, majoring in Physical Education. She later majored in Biology at LaSalle University and graduated Magna Cum Laude in 1993. Ten years later, she received her Masters degree in Education from Neumann College.

Fin, as most of her friends knew her, played on various softball teams throughout Montgomery County, including an ASA team that represented the state in the national tournament. She also coached many volleyball teams, including Archbishop Wood, a team she led to two Catholic League championships.

She was inducted in the first Hall of Fame class at Archbishop Wood in 2000.

She left a lucrative career as a biomedical laboratory technician for her true calling - teaching.

Claire started teaching in the Philadelphia Archdiocesan High Schools in 1995. Her last teaching experience was at St. Hubert High School for Girls in Philadelphia, where she taught Science, Physical Education and Health. She loved and cared for her students and was always concerned for their future.

In February, 2004, she was diagnosed with Ovarian cancer and underwent intense chemotherapy treatments until July of that year. She had returned to teaching at St. Hubert’s that September when word from her doctor came that the cancer was back. Reluctant to leave her students again, she nonetheless started a new round of chemo. In December, she was told that the chemo was no longer working. On January 25, 2005, Claire succumbed to her disease.