Mary Clay

Creative and artistic, Mary Clay was as talented with a camera or a scrapbook as she was dedicated to her family and close friends. She has left her mark on the world, both through her beautiful creations and, more importantly, through the many people whose lives she touched.

Mary Ann Clay was born on August 4, 1945, at Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo, MI; her proud parents were Harold and Evelyn Greenfield. She grew up on the east side of Kalamazoo with her parents and her sister, Joann. In her early years, she attended Villa St. Anthony, which was a Catholic girls boarding school in Comstock, Michigan. After that, she moved on to St. Mary’s grade school, and eventually to St Augustine High School. As a child, Mary enjoyed her Ginny doll collection and reading. During her high school years, Mary worked at Schensul’s cafeteria.

Upon graduation from high school, Mary attended Western Michigan University, where she met lifelong friend Judy McGowan. After getting her Bachelor Degree and her teaching certificate, she began her career in the Kalamazoo Public Schools as a Hillside Junior High English teacher.

While teaching at Hillside, Mary met Darrell Clay. After several years of friendship, they were married on November 21, 1970. Mary and Darrell shared a passion for antiques, and after the wedding they began searching for antiques and collectibles with which to furnish their home on Maple Street. Mary began a collection of 8-inch dolls that grew to over one hundred. She also has a great collection of paper weights and ink wells. This flurry of collecting soon became a small business, “Clay’s Antiques.” They sold antiques at the Allegan Antique Show in the summers alongside their friends, the Andrews, for over 30 years.

Mary’s only daughter, Julia, was born on November 25, 1976. Mary was a tremendous mother who supported all of Julia’s interests – she was there for every piano lesson, every soccer game, every ice skating practice and every tennis match. Once Julia went off to graduate school, they developed a “Saturday morning phone call,” which they both always made time for and which could last for hours. Since moving to Indianapolis, Julia and Mary talked daily, usually on one of Julia’s commutes to or from Eli Lilly, where she is a Senior Research Scientist in oncology. Mary and Julia loved to have Mother-Daughter bonding time, which included shopping in Ann Arbor and Indianapolis, going to the US Open and the Tiffany exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, scrap-booking camp at Cropadoodle in Indiana, or just hanging out and talking. Mary was also delighted to be a part of Julia’s wedding to Dustin Mergott.

After teaching in Lawton for a few years and taking time off to be a fulltime mom, Mary returned to the Kalamazoo Public Schools, teaching home-economics at Loy Norrix High School. She then moved on to Milwood Middle School, where she worked as an English teacher until her retirement.

In her free time, Mary traveled extensively with family and friends. She travelled internationally to Bangkok, Thailand; Beijing, China; and Lima, Peru to visit with longtime friends Bill and Marilyn Holladay, and to Rabat, Morocco. She also enjoyed trips to Hawaii, Cancun, frequent trips to Florida, and several weeks each summer in South Haven. Mary especially valued her visit to Rome, Italy, where she saw and heard Pope John Paul II on three separate occasions, including his Christmas message to the world. Mary loved seeing the numerous cathedrals in the Holy City - so much so that they had to set a limit of three cathedrals a day!

Mary also enjoyed sewing and making crafts. In addition to making all of Julia’s Halloween and figure skating costumes over the years, she also participated in craft shows. Photography was another a passion: for a while, she even had her own dark room, and developed her own photographs. These two hobbies naturally merged into a scrap-booking interest, which later included card-making and stamping. Mary’s other interests were reading, discussing books with her book club, and shopping, especially for jewelry, clothes, purses and shoes. Most of all, Mary loved to just spend time with her close family and friends.

Since Mary’s retirement from the public school system, she and Darrell have continued to work with antiques, and recently have done many estate sales for other people. This last year they moved from their home of 35 years on Sun Valley, to a condominium on St Andrew’s Circle. Mary was thrilled to decorate the condo in a “Country French” décor, and she sewed many of the pillows and bed-skirts for the home. They organized the condo to include a scrap-booking room, where Mary could enjoy her favorite hobby.

Last August, Mary was thrilled by the birth of her grandson, Michael. She loved to spend time with Michael, and often went shopping for baby clothes. For the past six months, Mary spent every minute she could playing with and loving her grandson.

With the assistance of Dr. Downey and Nurse Amber, Mary courageously battled ovarian cancer for 16 years. She received wonderful care from Hospice of Southwestern Michigan, including the staff at Rose Arbor where she died peacefully on March 5, 2012.

Loyal, kind, and creative, Mary Clay was a wonderful wife and mother, grandmother and friend. She will be deeply missed and lovingly remembered by her many friends and family members.

Mary’s family includes her husband of 42 years, Darrell Clay; her daughter, Julia Clay (Dustin Mergott); her grandson, Michael Mergott; her sister, JoAnn (Jim) Boven; and many nieces and nephews.

Visitation will be held on Thursday, from 5:00 – 8:00 p.m., at the Life Story Funeral Home, Betzler; 6080 Stadium Dr. 375-2900. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated 1:00 p.m. Friday at St. Ambrose Catholic Church. Burial will be at Mt. Olivet Cemetery. Memorials may be directed to Pretty Lake Vacation Camp or Hospice Care of Southwest Michigan. Please visit Mary’s personal memory page at www.lifestorynet.com, where you can learn more about her life, share a favorite memory or photo, and sign the online guestbook.