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From the Chicago Tribune:

Claire Cordwell Rice

Animal lover was among Chicago’s top dog groomers

April 07, 2006 | By Barbara Sherlock, Tribune staff reporter

To say that Claire Cordwell Rice had a penchant for animals would be an understatement, according to family and friends.

As a child, Mrs. Rice filled her family’s home with stray or injured animals, caring for them and finding them homes. As an adult, she rarely left a pet shop empty-handed. Something warm and furry or winged and chirping would often accompany her out the door.
About 25 years ago, she turned her passion into a successful business, The Dog Scene, and became one of Chicago’s master dog groomers.

Mrs. Rice, 52, of Chicago, died of complications from anoxia, Saturday, April 1, in Northwestern Memorial Hospital. Anoxia occurs when tissues are starved of oxygen. She had been a patient of the hospital since March 24 after she choked on food.

“Claire always loved animals and our house growing up was like Noah’s Ark,” said her brother Colin Cordwell. “She would find strays and bring them home, and we would wind up caring for them.

“She sometimes could come off gruff, but she had a heart of gold and, to me, was the embodiment of kindness.”

Mrs. Rice was born and raised in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood and, acting on her passion, decided to become a dog groomer and launch her own grooming business. She opened The Dog Scene in 1980 shortly after being certified as a groomer by the Midwest School of Dog Grooming Inc.

The shop, now at 5637 N. Ashland Ave., was originally at 5904 N. Clark St. until about 10 years ago, when a fire gutted the building. As they rescued the dogs and cats that were there for grooming or boarding, one firefighter came from the back of the shop, a limp cat in his arms.

“Claire grabbed the cat and, right on television, starts giving the cat mouth-to-mouth and brought it back to life,” said her best friend, Elana Morgan, who had watched the news clip of the incident. “She was an angel for animals, seriously.”

Mrs. Rice was the first person Morgan met when she moved from Montreal in 1986. The two found they were kindred spirits.

“I was calling for a groomer and I picked her name out of the phone book,” said Morgan, owner of the Morgan’s Dogs training facility in Chicago. “I didn’t know anyone or anything except the street I was on. She let me use the basement of her store to start my dog-training business. We would go to pet shops and buy the animals we felt sorry for. She would have to drag me out of certain places, and I would have to drag her out of others.”

In 1996, Mrs. Rice became certified as a master groomer through the former School of International Professional Grooming Inc. and later was certified as a companion animal hygienist. She was voted best dog groomer in Chicago in 2004 by Chicagoland Tails magazine.

“The thing about Claire is that groomers are a dime a dozen,” Morgan said. “Claire was one of the top groomers in the city and there are probably only three. As a master groomer, she hand-scissored and could do very, very hard cuts and do them beautifully.”

Her late father, John Cordwell, a former City of Chicago director of planning and one of the chief architects of Sandburg Village, was a native of London. In honor of her British heritage, Mrs. Rice adorned her shop with British memorabilia, including an imitation red British telephone booth. She owned seven dogs, including several Cavalier King Charles spaniels that she would travel to England to acquire for herself and clients.

Other survivors include her husband, Nick; her mother, Justine; and another brother, Ian.

A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on her birthday, May 19, at the Red Lion Pub. The restaurant, founded by her father and now owned by her brother Colin, is at 2446 N. Lincoln Ave., Chicago.