A roadside memorial is set up near Bryan Elementary to mark the spot where Claudia Alderman, 59, was killed in a wrong-way accident a little over a month ago. A wreath of flowers rests against the base of a street sign pole. Fist-sized motorcycle figurines are nestled between the colored petals.
Ms. Alderman loved to ride motorcycles. She was riding when 21-year-old Osbaldo Campos hit her head on while driving down Reynolds Street, June 12.
“She was not just a weekend rider,” her daughter Toni Simonds Raulerson said. “It wasn’t just her hobby.”
Alderman rode for 12 years. For many of those years, it was her main vehicle. It was not uncommon for her to put 30,000 miles on her bike in one year.
She had a respect for the road.
“The biggest thing was buying a good helmet,” her daughter Crystal Alderman said. “She’d have $600, $700, $800 helmets.”
She got her start riding when she was dating someone with a motorcycle. Then she got tired of riding on the back.
“Classic mom: she’s very independent,” Stacey Simonds said. “She didn’t want to wait on anyone.”
But Ms. Alderman had other passions.
She loved the gym. She had taken her daughters to the Power Shop in Historic Downtown since they were young. Crystal Alderman remembers doing her homework there.
When her daughters were old enough to train, they’d join in. Stacey Simonds would meet her mother at Fitness for 10 during the week to have bonding time. She’d push Ms. Alderman in plyometrics and Ms. Alderman would push her in weights.
Mrs. Alderman also competed as a body builder both separately and with her daughter, Toni Simonds Raulerson. Their paths also crossed in the professional realm: Ms. Alderman as a realtor at Charles Rutenberg Realty; Toni Simonds Raulerson as a lender at Florida Mortgage Firm. Ms. Alderman big heart was able to shine at her job.
At her memorial service, a family came up to her daughters and told them that their mother was an angel. Ms. Alderman helped them get a house in Plant City by cutting her commission to 1%. The family had been trying for years to move from Georgia to be closer to relatives.
“It made me feel so good to hear other people speak well of her,” Toni Simonds Raulerson said. “She never did it for the money … she knew if she did it in the right way she’d get rewards. And she did.”
But perhaps her biggest passion was her family. With a flexible schedule as a realtor, Ms. Alderman was always at her grandsons’ sports games. Full of energy, she’d chase them around the house — even when she wasn’t supposed to.
Grandson Dylan Couture remembers her cooking the most. Ms. Alderman always made breakfast when her grandsons slept over. And on New Year’s Day, her daughters and their families could stop by any time for a feast that included black eyed peas, thought to bring luck and prosperity.
“She was superstitious,” Crystal Alderman said.
From the time they were young, Ms. Alderman always made time for her daughters. She was a single mother who made sure to provide the most she could. Stacey Simonds and Toni Simonds Raulerson danced throughout school. She would make their costumes. She pushed youngest daughter, Crystal Alderman, in her softball playing. On vacation to the beach, Ms. Alderman would still have her practice by throwing 100 pitches on the sand.
“She never missed a softball game in 12 years,” Crystal Alderman said. “She was very hard on me, but to my benefit.”
Her daughters still received Easter baskets and Christmas stockings well into adulthood. She’d come over to their house every chance she’d get. Sometimes her family would have to push her out the door. They’d bond over simple things like going to the gym or grocery shopping.
“She was such a big part of each of our lives, together and separately,” Crystal Alderman said. “She made it a point to visit or call.”
But the biggest thing she handed down to her daughters was to have manners, perseverance and tenacity.
“She taught us these things not by words, but by actions,” Stacey Simonds said. “Find a way, find a way. There’s always a way through it … if you dream it, you can make it happen.”
Ms. Alderman is survived by her daughters Toni Simonds Raulerson (Roy), of Plant City, Stacey Simonds, of Valrico, and Crystal Alderman (Bryan Couture), of Plant City; grandsons, Dylan, Austin, Drake and Coltin; siblings, Katrina, Linda, Andy, Margaret, Clifford, Libby and Rick; and many cousins, nieces, nephews, family and friends.