Claudia Frederique Sound

Claudia Frederique Sound passed away on October 5, 2024.  She was born to Gerard Frederic and Berthe Jeanne Martinet (known to family and friends as "Manet") on February 10, 1931 in Marrakesh, French Morocco.  Her father was a judge for the French administration, and Claudia, her mother, and her sisters would return to France every summer to stay with her grandparents.  In the summer of 1940, they were trapped for the duration by the German occupation.  Of the many stories that Mom told us of the war years, perhaps the most dramatic was the time pre-teen Claudia was sent across the street to help the neighbor who was about to have a baby, and then was sent back home, only to be shot at for being out after curfew!  When Mom told the story, you always got the sense that she resented being sent home before seeing the baby being born more than being shot at!

After the war, the family returned to Morocco, but Claudia, her mother and sisters soon emigrated to the United States in 1948.  They settled in Bridgeport, Washington, where Manet managed the "Y" Motel, owned by their immigration sponsor, Dye Hawley.  It was there that Mom met Alan Sound, an Electrical Engineer working for the Bonneville Power Administration and travelling around the state of Washington inspecting hydroelectric dams.  They were married in March 1952 and continued the nomadic lifestyle together, with Mom cooking their meals in motel rooms and spending her days improving her English by reading mystery novels (which would become a lifelong habit).  The footloose lifestyle became impractical with the arrival of their first son, Richard, and Alan took a job at the then Naval Ordnance Test Station in China Lake, California.  They moved south a month before the birth of their second son, Michael in 1954.

The growing family welcomed third and fourth sons Steven and Andrew while living on the base before moving to a home they built in Ridgecrest where Alan and Claudia would live for the rest of their lives.  Claudia and Alan supported their sons in Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Swim Team, and Debate.  When the boys left home, Claudia volunteered in the schools to help her friend Pat Kleinschmidt and at the Well Baby Clinic for her friend Pat Moore, as well as at the China Lake Museum and the Historic USO Building.  After Alan retired, he and Claudia traveled around the state and country, as well as making one last trip to France to see her relatives there and her childhood haunts.  Every summer while her grandkids were growing up she welcomed them all for a week in Ridgecrest without their parents.

Claudia was preceded in death by her husband Alan, her son Michael, her parents Gerard Martinet and Betty Seguin, and her sisters Chantal Andrews and Francoise Martinet.  She is survived by her sons Richard (Gail), Steven, and Andrew, five grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren.

A memorial service will be held at Holland and Lyons Mortuary, 216 S. Norma Street,  on November 2nd at 11:00 AM with reception to follow at the Historic USO Building, 230 W. Ridgecrest Blvd.  In lieu of flowers, the family requests only your thoughts and prayers or donations can be made to: The National Multiple Sclerosis Society at https://www.nationalmssociety.org/ or a charity of your choice.