March 12, 1923 — Aug. 19, 2024
Clayton Samuel Gordon Jr. passed away peacefully on Aug. 19 at the age of 101. He is survived by his second wife, Betty, and his daughter Sue. He was preceded in death by his youngest daughter, Shannon. In addition, he had four grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
He was born and raised in Missouri and joined the Army at age 18. He was sent to serve in Australia, then deployed to Europe as a paratrooper with the 13th Airborne Division in World War II. Clayton was discharged in 1945 but he continued to serve in the Missouri National Guard as a second lieutenant until 1957.
After he was discharged, he married his first wife (also named Betty) and raised his family. He was employed by Hallmark Greeting Cards for 35 years as a sales manager.
After retirement, he moved to Ashland, where he remarried and was active in the community.
He served one term as president of SOLIR (Southern Oregon Learning in Retirement, now known as OLLI at SOU) in addition to teaching several classes. The most popular was Buddhism for the Non-Buddhist. Clayton was active in the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship, and loved attending plays and musical performances. He also enjoyed volunteering at the downtown information booth together with his wife. He encouraged visitors to drink from the infamous Lithia water fountain in the Plaza.
Clayton and his wife moved to the Big Island of Hawaii in 2020 to be near Betty’s family. He passed away at the remarkable age of 101. Homelani Memorial Park in Hilo, Hawaii, has handled arrangements.
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