Clayton Samuel Gordon Jr.'s Obituary
Clayton Samuel Gordon Jr. passed away peacefully on August 19, 2024. He is survived by his second wife Betty, and his daughter Sue. He is 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 eighteen. He was sent to serve in Australia, then deployed to Europe as a paratrooper with the 13th Airborne Division in World War II. He was discharged in 1945, but 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 thirty-five years as a sales manager.
After retirement, he moved to Ashland, Oregon where he re-married and was active in the community.
He served one term as president of SOLAR (Southern Oregon Learning and Retirement) in addition to teaching several classes. The most popular being Buddhism For The Non-Buddhist. He was active in the Unitarian Universalist's 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.
They moved to the big island of Hawaii in 2020 to be near Betty's family. He passed away at the remarkable age of 101.
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