Charles Clinton Clay

Funeral services for Charles Clinton Clay will be Friday, January 7, 2011 at 2:00 PM at the Okemah Church of Christ. Interment will follow at the Highland Cemetery in Okemah. Charles Clinton Clay was born February 6, 1920 in Okemah, Oklahoma to Charlie M. Clay and Lela Moon Clay. He passed away Friday, December 31, 2010 in Woodward, Oklahoma at the age of 90. Charles Clinton Clay had been a longtime resident of Okemah, Oklahoma. In 1942 he married Edna Lois Payne in Okemah. Clinton served his county with the US Navy from 1942 – 1945 being ranked as Ship’s Cook B, First Class. After being discharged from the Navy he returned to Okemah, where he and Lois operated Clay’s Grocery. Clinton loved baseball having sponsored and managed a sandlot baseball team for several years, the Okemah Redskins, and also helped with the Okemah Braves. The Okemah Braves won the State tournament one year. Clinton and Lois operated the grocery store until their retirement in 1976. Even with his disabilities, Clinton always managed to put out a big garden. Clinton enjoyed woodworking, making several furniture items and building cabinets. He also enjoyed gardening and cooking and served as an elder for the Okemah Church of Christ for approximately 24 years. In 1997 Clinton and Lois moved to Woodward, Oklahoma, to be near their daughter. He is preceded in death by his wife, Lois; parents; an infant son, Charles Edward Clay; and one sister, Lura Bolzle. Survivors include his son, Joe Clinton Clay, of Edmond, OK; his daughter, Janelle Wasson and husband Bobby of Woodward, Oklahoma; three sisters, Kathleen Nowell of Conroe, Texas, Nita Hext of Jasper, Texas, and Jerry Herberger, of Jasper, Texas; four grandchildren, Jeff Wasson and wife Abbie, of Woodward, OK, Michael Wasson and wife Lyndsey, of Woodward, OK, Jennifer Cooper and husband Ricky, of Edmond, OK and Linda Clay, of Noble, OK; three great grandsons, Kyler Wasson, of Woodward, OK, Zane Wasson, of Woodward, OK and Eli Clinton Clay, of Norman, OK; and two great granddaughters, Samantha Cooper, of Edmond, Oklahoma and Emily Cooper, of Edmond, OK. Serving as pallbearers will be Bobby, Jeff and Michael Wasson, Billy Herberger, Steve Waltman, Max Henry and Gene Shields. Services will be under the direction of Parks Brothers Funeral Home, Okemah and officiated by Dr. Roger Thompson.

Charles Clinton Clay

February 6, 1920 - December 31, 2010