Claire Baird, age 96, of 1345 Michigan Ave. SW, Huron, died Friday, March 18, 2005, at the Huron Regional Medical Center. Her funeral service will be at 10:30 AM Saturday, March 26, at American Lutheran Church with Rev. Steven Brandsrud officiating. Burial will be a Restlawn Memory Gardens Cemetery. Friends may call Friday afternoon and evening at the Welter Funeral Home or prior to the service at the church Saturday morning. The family will be present from 5:00 to 7:30 PM Friday evening at the funeral home. Memorials may be directed to the Salvation Army or the American Lutheran Church. Claire Baird was born Claire Olivia Wattnem on August 4, 1908, to John and Regina (Lunden) Wattnem at Estelline, SD. She attended Pleasant View Country School and graduated from Estelline High School in 1925. She attended and graduated from Aberdeen Northern College with a teaching degree. She taught in schools at Brandt, Clark, and in 1938 moved to Huron where she continued to teach in the public school system. On January 23, 1939, Claire married George Al Baird at Brookings. After their marriage the couple lived at Huron, and Claire resigned from teaching and joined in a business partnership with her husband in the Cub Lunch Restaurant, Sip N Bite Caf, Cub Products Company (candy and popcorn which were shipped to soldiers serving overseas in the European Theater during World War II), Karmel Korn Shop, and the Dakota Restaurant Equipment Supply Company. She was a member of American Lutheran Church and various committees, Huron Area Chamber of Commerce where she served 2 terms on the board of directors, South Dakota Easter Seal Society and its first woman president, South Dakota Restaurant Association and its second woman president, South Dakota Small Business Administration, life-member of the Salvation Army and served on its advisory board, South Dakota Physically Challenged Childrens Society, charter member and organizer of the South Dakota State Coffee Day for Physically Challenged Children. Claire retired in 1987 after selling the equipment supply company, but continued her volunteer work with the Salvation Army, American Lutheran Church, and the South Dakota Easter Seal Society. She is survived by 1 sister, LeNore Yap of Minneapolis, MN; 1 sister-n-law, Ruth Wattnem of Olympia, WA; and several nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her parents; her husband, Al on September 13, 1986; 4 brothers, Oscar Wattnem, Gilbert Wattnem, Melvin Wattnem, and Raymond Wattnem; 4 sisters, Ruth Gronna Sletten, Cecilia Bowar, Pearl Sletten, and Eva Olafson; 3 sisters-in-law, Lillian Wattnem, Hattie Wattnem, and Julia Wattnem; 5 brothers-in-law, Earl Sletten, Ed Bowar, Owen Sletten, Arthur Olafson, and Norman Yap.