Claire King Amyot
Claire King Amyot, Skidmore’s first director of health services, died November 17, 1983, at Saratoga Hospital. She was 75 years old.
A native of San Jose, Calif., Claire earned a B.A. degree in chemistry from Wilson College in Chambersburg, Pa., and an M.D. from Columbia University’s College of Physicians and Surgeons. She interned at Grasslands Hospital in Valhalla, N.Y., and at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York City.
With the exception of the two summers devoted to Glenridge Sanitarium in Scotia and two years as a school physician with the Saratoga school district, Claire’s career was spent at Skidmore. From 1936 to 1945 she cared for students and, even after she retired to care for her family, she spent time interpreting X-rays for Skidmore—“simply,” she said, “because it needed doing.”
In 1951 she returned to campus and served as its only full time physician until 1966, when Robert L. Pratt joined the staff. When she retired in 1972, he assumed the directorship of health services.
Again Claire’s retirement was a short one, for within a year she began doing administrative work in the nursing-home wing of Saratoga Hospital and with Wesley Nursing Home at Saratoga Retirement Center. She continued with this career until the late 1970s.
In 1976, Claire received the Skidmore College Distinguished Service Award. Presented at Commencement that year, the award honored her for “outstanding achievement in her field” and dedication to Skidmore’s students.
The widow of Edmond Amyot, a noted attorney, Claire was survived by a son, Edmond N. Amyot Jr. of Clifton Park; two daughters, Martha Precheur of Rome, N.Y., and Margaret Mangano of Saratoga Springs; brother Theodore King; brother in-law J. Raymond Amyot; and eight grandchildren.