Donald W. Clayton
February 14, 1949 ~ August 11, 2021
Donald W. Clayton, 72, of Coal City, passed away suddenly August 11, 2021. Donnie was born February 14, 1949, in Indianapolis, to the late James Samual Clayton and Cora (Gunter) Ayers.
Donald was faithful and a strong believer in the Lord. He was a member of Cornerstone City Church, Clayton, Indiana. He graduated from Mooresville High School in 1967. Donald proudly served in the United States Army for a brief stint before being honorably discharged. Donnie retired in 2018 after many dedicated years as a district manager for Circle S. He enjoyed being in the outdoors such as mowing his lawn and wood working. Donald collected light houses for many years and most recently started collecting old barns. He traveled to many places in the United States and would always bring back a magnet of his destination. Donnie was always a fun and easy loving guy for anyone to get to know. He loved and adored his children and especially his grandchildren. He is going to be greatly missed by his loving family and friends.
In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his siblings, Sam and Ricky Clayton, Pauline Shadduck, Betty Clayton, Tooty McGuire, Cathy Stromer, and Ruby Kwil.
Survivors include his children, Eric (Nikki) Clayton and Patricia (Andrew) Brewer; siblings, Bobbi Mathis, Bonnie Mackey, and James David Clayton; grandchildren, Ashley (Michael) Hueseman, Jacob Brewer, Brittany (Dustin) Loyal, DaNae Brewer, Dorian Pate, Leland Pate, and Jocelyn Clayton; and great grandchildren, Audrey, Alex, Baylee, Hunter, Nicky, and Abby.
Donnie’s Life Celebration® visitation and funeral service will be held at Carlisle – Branson Funeral Service & Crematory, 39 E. High St., Mooresville. Visitation will be Monday, August 16, 2021, 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., service will follow at 7 p.m. Visit www.CarlisleBranson.com to share a favorite memory or to sign the online guest registry.
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I remember when we were younger at Grandma Clayton‘s old property, and Uncle David and Uncle Donnie had made a pit for Pole vaulting or High jumping and we would go out to grandmas and go back on the back of the property where the pit was “suppose “ to be but there was NO Sand or mats just hard ground and dirt , but they would do the high jump and different kind of tricks so to speak without any pads or any protection or anything I don’t know how they didn’t break legs, but of course me and Jeannie was right out there with them they were always our entertainment but we loved them so much. They were always watching out for us! Love you Uncle Donnie❤️
When my oldest daughter was little, she would say Papaw, but it sounded like Papu. It stuck and that is what all the grandkids have called him. When the great grandkids came along he became “The Great Papu”. He loved it! ❤❤
Dad went with us on vacation in 2009 to Maine. I knew he would love going up there and seeing all the lighthouses. I wasn’t wrong. We both said that while we were in Maine, we were going to have an “authentic” lobster dinner. We went to the Lobster Shack Restaurant near Portland. We got our lobster and sat down. Neither of us knew how to even begin to eat this lobster. My husband pulled up on the tail and that lobster “pooped” on my plate. That was it, that was the end of our “authentic” lobster dinner. Neither of us could eat it after that.
I remember when I was in grade school probably around 5th maybe 6th grade. I got in trouble for fighting and once again dad had to miss some time at work for me being in trouble. The principal asked ” what should we do with him”. Dad says “don’t suspend him that is what he wants”. The principal replies ” I think he needs a paddling”. Dad “yep”. The principal has me stand and gets out his wooden paddle. Dad is sitting next to me and to his surprise the principal handed him the paddle. Dad told me later that he thought the principal was going to paddle me and I don’t think dad wanted to take on that task.
Dad would pick me up every weekend and never miss a time to spend with me. He would pic me up and back then he was a smoker. I think he made sure he was smoking a cigarette when he pick me up because he made sure to flip the butt in the driveway so my mom had to pick it up. She would get so mad and I remember we would laugh about it when we left the house. Then if you knew dad you know he loved to work. So on Saturday mornings I would have to go into work with him first thing in the morning 0430 rough at that age. I would sleep on the floor at the store while dad did his work. Then we would go from there to the Bridgeport Church to mow grass. He loved to do that we spent a lot of time mowing that grass it was a big yard around 6 acers I think. Plus he would weed eat around the building and make everything look good for church on Sunday.
Let me talk about Dads faith I can remember a time when money was really tight for dad for some reason. I seen he was writing a check for the church at his desk at the house in Camby. I asked him “why don’t you skip giving the church money this week god will understand I am sure”? Dad looked at me and said “no son I will pay my ties like I always have and god will provide me with what I need”. He was very right in that fact he never missed a bill payment and he was never late on a payment. God always took care of dad. He was a good father for providing to his family for what they needed.
I will miss how Papu used to help me with my homework, especially my math and reading. Papu would always check my work and tell me how smart I was. He would always tell me I was his special girl and that he is proud of me.
Our thoughts and prayers are with you and your family.. Love you always, Gregory & Rosalind Gibbons
One thing that I will miss about Don is that every Christmas he would do “The 12 days of Christmas” presents. He would start out with small gifts and the as we got closer to Christmas they would get bigger. It was something nice to look forward to after school. This tradition is one that I plan to carry on with my family.
I will miss helping Don outside with things. I usually helped him in order to make things easier on him. I like to walk in the yard and play with sticks, Don would always get on to me about leaving sticks all over the yard
Where do I start? Don was the man I would go to when I needed to learn how to certain things like changing the faucet or switching out a faulty light switch. He was jack of all trades, always knowing a little about a lot of things.
the thing I am going to miss the most is sitting on his porch after a long day and talking about anything and everything. He was always there to listen if I had a bad day. I will miss him complaining about my chickens….about how many I have or about how I let them out to early in the morning <3
A truly happy guy, our class will miss him. The Loomis clan sends strength, to his family, time will be your friend. Peace, Frances Loomis Dattilo Class of ’67