Obituary of Carole Clayton
Carole Anderson Clayton, Brick, departed this life one day prior to her 84th birthday following an extended illness.
Carole was born at the East end of Burnt Tavern Road in Point Pleasant, where her grandparents ran a chicken farm. She attended Ocean Road School where, in Kindergarten, she would meet her lifelong friend, Gayle Gravino Ferry.
A proud Garnet Gull, Carole graduated from Point Pleasant Beach High School in 1956. She was later instrumental in planning and executing many class reunions.
At eighteen years of age, she became a school secretary at Memorial School in Point Pleasant, and soon after became a legal secretary for Mr. Harold Feinberg in Point Pleasant Beach.
In 1965, she married Herschel Everett Clayton, and moved to the other end of Burnt Tavern Road. Always a loving and attentive mother, she enjoyed sewing, knitting and gardening. She often made clothes for her daughter and grandchildren. She made sure that the family had beautiful vacations each summer, each year in a different state.
Carole was very active in church, both in the Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church and Saint Paul's United Methodist Church in Bay Head. She sang in the choirs, served on church boards and committees, and led a Women's service group, Women of Heart. Following Superstorm Sandy, she participated at Saint Paul's in serving meals and offering comfort to displaced community members. She became well known- by name- to the National Guardsmen as she passed boxes of homemade cookies to them as they let her through the blocked streets on the way to the church.
Her final move brought her to Greenbriar Two, just off Burnt Tavern Road in Brick. She delighted in her new little house, all her own. She delighted in the songbirds, deer and turkeys- and the two kittens born in the back yard who joined our family.
Carole was talented at crafts, creating and cooking, but her greatest talent was in just loving and serving others. From childhood through her final months, Carole was a "welcomer," always finding the best in others.
She took the most pride and pleasure in being a mother, grandmother, and finally, a "GG." We could not have asked for a more devoted, generous and loving mother and grandmother in our lives. We are the lucky ones.
Carole was predeceased by her father, Howard Anderson, (who died nineteen days prior to her birth), her mother, Ruth Conklin Anderson, her husband Captain H. E. Clayton, and her stepson, Kim Lowell Clayton.
Surviving to cherish her memory are her daughter, Diane Carole Clayton; cousin, Penny Conklin Jeannechild; her grandchildren, James Everett Clayton (and his wife, Kathleen), Christen Clayton (and her wife, Rachel), Cassie Clayton, her daughter in law, Susan Barnas, son in law David Spangler, and her great-grandchildren, Gabrielle May, Kieran Lowell, and soon to be born "Baby Girl Clayton."
At 4 p.m., Thursday, June 2 a memorial service will be held at the Point Pleasant Presbyterian Church, 701 Forman Avenue, Point Pleasant Beach. Relatives and friends are invited to attend and the wearing of light, colorful attire is suggested.
In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to Saint Jude's Hospital for Children, or a local animal rescue organization.
For online condolences and tributes please visit www.pableevertzfuneralhome.com