OBITUARY: Robert Lee Clayton Sr. 1920-1977

[ Mason City Globe Gazette; September 8, 1997 ]


                       Robert Lee Clayton Sr.

MITCHELL -- Robert Lee Clayton Sr., 77, died Saturday (Sept. 6,
1997) at the Veteran_s Administration Medical Center, Iowa City.

Funeral services will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Our Savior's Lutheran
Church, Osage, with the Rev. Rose Marie Lewis of Faith Lutheran Church
officiating. Burial will be in the Osage Cemetery with military rites provided
by Osage V.F.W. Post 7920 and Osage American Legion Post 278.

Visitation is from 4 to 9 p.m. today at the Champion Funeral Home, Osage,
with the family receiving friends from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m.

Robert Lee Clayton Sr. was born Feb. 25, 1920, in Bruno, Saskatchewan,
Canada, the son of Matt and Ann (Pederson) Clayton. He was baptized in the
Lutheran Church. In 1925, Robert moved with his parents and brothers and sister
to the United States, where they settled in Mitchell. He attended school in
Mitchell and graduated from Mitchell High School in 1937. He was confirmed at
Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Osage.

Bob, as most knew him, helped in construction of Highway 9 before enlisting
in the U.S. Naval Air Force in April of 1940 with his two brothers. He
served as a crew chief and metal smith on the Navy's PBY aircraft. After
achieving the rank of Aviation Chief Metal Smith and surviving the Japanese
attack on Ford Island at Pearl Harbor, he was discharged in 1946.

Robert was united in marriage to Dorothy Rose Beyer, also of Mitchell, on
Dec. 16, 1943, in San Diego, Calif. To this union six children were born. After
his discharge from service they returned to Mitchell where he opened and
operated Clayton_s Body and Welding Shop, which he operated until 1969, when he
was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and was forced to retire. 

Following his retirement, Bob continued to display his can do
attitude by remaining active. He enjoyed attending auctions, buying and selling,
yard work, conversing with friends and always keeping one eye on his
children just in case they got out of line. Bob was a member of the V.F.W.,
American Legion and Disabled American Veterans.

He is survived by his wife, Dorothy, of Mitchell, and his children and their
spouses, Robert Lee Clayton Jr. and his wife, Myra, of Rock Springs, Wyo.,
Cheryl Bonjour and her husband, Lynn, of Osage, Laurie Barta and her husband,
Donald, of Manly, Brian Clayton and his wife, Kim, of Mitchell, and Lyle Clayton
and his wife, Sandy, of Fond Du Lac, Wis.; many grandchildren,
great-grandchildren and stepgrandchildren; one sister, Mildred Reasland of
Minneapolis, Minn.; one brother, Kenneth Clayton and his wife, Mary, of Lemoore,
Calif.; and many other relatives and friends.

He was preceded in death by his parents; a daughter, Pamela; and a brother,
Harold.





Copyright (c) 2002 by Kermit Kittleson
(Note: I am not necessarily related to the subject of the obituary.)
This copy contributed for use in the USGenWeb Archives.

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