Verlene Clay

Verlene Clay, of Willis (and former Groesbeck resident,) passed away Tuesday, September 3, 2013, at Willis, at age 88. There will be Visitation on Friday, September 6, from 6:00 to 8:00 P.M. and again on Saturday from 11:00 A.M. through 1:00 P.M., at the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Saturday at the Groesbeck Funeral Home Chapel with Dr. Tod Tanner, of the First Baptist Church of Groesbeck officiating. She will be buried in Fort Parker Memorial Park. Pallbearers will be Stephen Clay, Randy Newman, Kenny Fisher, Keith Stevens, Christopher Walton, and Ray Savoie. Verlene was born March 5, 1925 to Vurd Maston Ramey and Lula (Clark) Ramey at Groesbeck. She attended school in Thornton, and at a very young age was helping the family farming and raising her brother. Verlene met a young man from Groesbeck, Delma Carroll Clay, and a few years later, at age 16, they were united in marriage on the Courthouse steps. Verlene was very dedicated to D.C. and supported him in his many ventures, while the family moved to many towns in Texas, Arkansas, and Illinois. She was also very devoted to her mother, who lived with them through all the moves. The children remember being enrolled at fourteen different schools and some more than one time. Nevertheless, they had a wonderful happy childhood, with long trips on family vacations, singing together as a family (he played the guitar and she played the harmonica), and the Sunday drives she loved. The family routinely came to Groesbeck a couple of times each year to clean the family graves, and some trips they camped outside Fort Parker Cemetery waiting for it to open. Verlene worked many years as a school custodian and also she and D. C. cleaned business offices together. They moved back to Groesbeck and the surrounding area around 1991, where their dear neighbors in town were the Elva Willard family. She and D.C. were members of the Oletha Baptist Church. After D. C. passed away in 1998, Verlene moved to Cleveland to be nearer her family. She loved working outside and raising a vegetable garden, and she loved to read the Bible, placing God first in her life and then her family and friends. She enjoyed the family getting together every weekend for many years, and was a great cook and Canasta player. She also was a great story-teller. Her family called her a “ball of spit-fire” who loved to end what she talked about with her statement, “you didn’t hear this from me.” She was well-loved by her large family, leaving them with many happy memories. Verlene was preceded in death by her parents; her husband D.C. Clay; sister, Lucille Castilow; and a grandson, Jeff Kramer. She is survived by her son and daughter-in-law, Sam and Lisa Clay of Spring; daughter, Wilma Kramer of Willis; daughter, Wanda Clay of Willis; son, Danny Clay of Groesbeck; and daughter and son-in-law, Pat and Ronnie Horton of Cleveland. She also leaves behind fifteen grandchildren; thirty-one great grandchildren; seventeen great-great grandchildren; her brother and sister-in-law, Clinton and Wanda Ramey of Jacksonville; and numerous nieces and nephews.