Millie Clayton

Mrs. Clayton, 91, a devoted wife, mother, grandmother, aunt, sister, teacher, mentor, and friend, passed away peacefully on Saturday, September 4, 2010 at her home in Boiling Springs. She was born on September 26, 1918 in Lattimore, NC, the daughter of the late Carl Jackson Magness and Dorcas Salome Greene Magness. She attended Lattimore High School and later, Asheville Normal and Teachers College, graduating in 1940. Her early teaching was in areas of North Carolina including New Bern, Lattimore and Ellenboro. While teaching in Ellenboro, she lived in a "teacheridge" with her sister, Donnis Magness Martin, and childhood neighbor and friend, Julia Hunt Clayton. She met her husband, Edward B. Clayton, Sr., at Julia's wedding when she was the maid of honor and Edward was the best man to his brother, Walter Clayton. The courtship began in earnest when she, having no sense of direction, volunteered to show Edward the way to the preacher's house to pay him. Jocelyn and Edward were married in 1948 and had been married for 56 years at the time of his death in 2004. In the early 1960s Mrs. Clayton received a special teaching scholarship to Eastern Kentucky University which she said gave her inspiration and ideas for years. Ever ready to shere those ideas, she mentored numerous young educators because she wanted everyone to succeed. She taught first grade for more than four decaded and is dearly loved by generations of children, their families and fellow educators. She received the "Teacher of the Year" award for Boiling Springs Elementary in 1979. Her greatest joys were watching children begin to read on their own and spending time with her own children and grandchildren, whom she called her "treasures," and her beloved husband. She also relished the simple joys of watching a "red bird" in her yard and other signs of the changing seasons. Surviving are her son Edward Clayton, Jr. of Boiling Springs, his wife Pam, and grandchildren Meagan, Hannah, and Morgan; her son Carl Clayton of Charlotte, NC,; her daughter Jocelyn Clayton Tolleson and husband Robin of Hendersonville, NC, and grandchildren Millie and James Tolleson, as well as many dear nieces and nephews. She was preceded in death by her husband, Edward Benjamin Clayton, Sr., and sisters Hillary Magness Padgett and Donnis Magness Martin. The family extends their gratitude to the angel caregivers who loved and served Mrs. Clayton during the last years of her life. Funeral services will be conducted by Dr. Carroll Page pastor of Boiling Springs Baptist Church. Memorials may be made to Hospice of Cleveland County, 951 Wendover Heights Drive, Shelby, NC 28150, or Boiling Springs Baptist Church, P. O. Bov 917, Boiling Springs, NC 28017, or Cleveland County Education Foundation, 130 South Post Road, Shelby, NC 28150