Robert Gilliam Clayton

Memphis: Robert Gilliam Clayton, 92, passed away June 18, 2007 at Allen Morgan Health Center of Trezevant Episcopal Home in Memphis. He was born in the Chester County Community of Montezuma to the late Walter A. and Maggie Gilliam Clayton on July 7, 1914. He was a graduate of Chester County High School and of Freed-Hardeman College. He was a World War II veteran, having served in the Pacific Theatre and in occupied Japan. Mr. Clayton classed cotton for the United States Government, following the crop all across the southern states. In later years, he lived in Memphis and dealt in the real estate business. He was a member of the United Methodist Church.



Mr. Clayton, in the late years, built Clayton Chapel on the Freed-Hardeman University campus, dedicating it in 1993 to the students of the university.



Mr. Clayton rarely complained, never a curse word, quiet, and thoughtful. He a man with friends rich and poor, intelligent and uneducated, black and white, blessed with a sense of humor under a cloak of deep thought, could laugh with friends or at himself. This was Robert, a man who lived a simple life, enjoyed simple pleasures, visiting on the back porch, taking a solitary walk, or going to the fair. Fortunate are those who could know this man. Mr. Clayton, man of unusual complexity, of uncommon intelligence, of impeccable integrity.



He is survived by a sister, Jo Ann Haynes of Tiptonville; four nieces and a nephew.