Clara Jeanne Elisabeth von Wimpffen, geb. am 7.Mai 2001 in Wheaton, Illinois- gest. am 4. April 2023 in Chicago. Sie war die Tochter von Maximilian von Wimpffen und Eve Ogan. Beerdigt wurde die jung Verstorbene im St.Michael Friedhof in Wheaton. Sie und ihre Angehörigen haben eine Stiftung ins Leben gerufen,die man unterstützen kann: http;//www.gofundme.com/f/claras-respiratory-recovery-fund. Der nachstehende Artikel wurde von einer Freundin von Clara Jeanne verfasst.
Clara Jeanne Elisabeth Wimpffen, age 21, passed away on Tuesday, April 4, 2023, at Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. She was born May 7, 2001, in Winfield, Illinois.
Clara grew up in Wheaton, Illinois, the third of four children. She was a creative person, a critical thinker, and an intensely loyal daughter, sister, grand-daughter, niece, and friend. She was an accomplished student, precise baker, energetic dancer, joyful singer, competitive gamer, and trustworthy cheerleader. She constantly challenged herself and her circle to view the world from beyond their own perspective and privilege.
She graduated from Wheaton North High School in 2019, where she was an honor student and a four year member of the WN Flight showchoir, eventually serving as a Teacher’s Assistant. She went on to complete two years at DePaul University, where she was awarded a Presidential Scholarship and earned straight A’s, majoring in Computer Science.
Clara was committed to social justice and fiercely advocated for others. Her talents included reading, baking, cooking, throwing pottery, creating tie-dye and nail art, and building computers and custom keyboards. She loved her family and friends, animals, camping, beach vacations, international travel, Disney, science fiction, reality TV, political debate, Harry Potter fan fiction, documentaries of all kinds, and a steamy Regency romance novel. Her open-mindedness and diverse taste in music made her a banger DJ on road trips and during physical therapy in her hospital room.
In August 2021, Clara was diagnosed with Acute Myeloid Leukemia. Over the next nineteen months she bravely achieved remission twice and endured onco-fertility with a determined focus on her future. She has thirteen eggs frozen, more than three times what her doctors told her was possible given her illness. Clara underwent a stem cell transplant at Lurie Children’s Hospital because she wanted to be surrounded by children during her treatment. Her brother George was her two-time stem cell donor. She suffered lung complications, and lived more than three months on ECMO, defying her medical team’s dire predictions. She eloquently advocated for her right to life with the hospital Ethics Board and won. Until her very last moments, she inspired everyone who was blessed to know her with immense hope that anything was possible. Tragically, she lost a swift and surprising battle to septic shock. Clara is most accurately defined by her fortitude, tenacity, and her single minded love for life, family, and friends.
She is survived by her parents, Maximilian and Eve (Ogan) Wimpffen; her siblings George C., Grace and Joseph; her maternal grandmother Shirley Ogan and her paternal grandmother Eva Wimpffen; her uncle Charles Ogan and aunt Christina (Wilson) Ogan; and her cousin John Ogan. Also survived by her godparents Ellen (Ogan) Martel & Anthony Pipitone.
She was preceded in death by her maternal grandfather Noel Ogan; her paternal grandfather George I. Wimpffen; her maternal great-grandmother Bernadine Nelson; and her paternal great-grandmothers Clara Both von Wimpffen.
A visitation will be held at Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187, on Thursday, April 20, 2023, from 3:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Relatives & friends are invited to meet directly at Saints Peter & Paul Catholic Church, 36 N. Ellsworth St., Naperville, IL 60540, on Friday, April 21, 2023, for a funeral mass at 11:00 a.m. Interment will follow at St. Michael Cemetery in Wheaton, IL.
Clara requests that we gather in her memory at the wake and funeral with joy and wear bright colors to demonstrate our love for her.
Memorial gifts may be directed to the family c/o Hultgren Funeral Home, 304 N. Main St., Wheaton, IL 60187 or to their go fund me page here: https://www.gofundme.com/f/claras-respiratory-recovery-fund The Wimpffen family is so grateful for continued donations to this GoFundMe. Clara has asked them to build a drinking fountain in an underserved area in her memory. If that proves too challenging, they are hoping to create a gift program for adolescent young adults with cancer who do not qualify for Make a Wish. In the true spirit of Clara, these were her last requests. Thank you.