[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 141 (Friday, September 2, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E897]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 REMEMBERING THE LIFE OF JERRY CLAYTON

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                            HON. TRENT KELLY

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, September 2, 2022

  Mr. KELLY of Mississippi. Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
life of Jerry Clayton. Jerry was born on August 28, 1938, in the Mount 
Vernon community of Lee County to Robert Curtis and Dewdrop Raper 
Clayton. He graduated from Belden High School and attended Itawamba 
Junior College (IJC) and Florence State (UNA) on basketball 
scholarships. While at IJC he met Tula Ann Senter and they were later 
married. After earning a degree from Mississippi State, he began 
teaching History and coaching basketball at Milam Jr. High School in 
Tupelo. Little did he know then that his heart for teaching would be a 
driving force throughout his life. Coaching took him to Tupelo High 
School where his 1968 Golden Wave basketball team won the state 
championship. He cherished his relationship with his students and 
players and remained concerned about them through the years, often 
being invited to their class reunions.
  In 1968, Jerry left the school system to become Chancery Clerk of Lee 
County, an office he served for twenty years. He was active in the 
Mississippi Chancery Clerks Association and often helped new clerks 
learn office operations. While in office he was appointed Youth Court 
Referee. There his experience with abused and neglected boys revealed a 
need for a safe place to house and nurture these young men. This became 
his mission and with support of the Lee County Board of Supervisors, 
Jerry founded the Alpha House, where for the next forty years, boys 
found a mentor whose goal was to give them a new way of life with 
confidence to set a goal and reach it. He wanted them to be so 
successful that they would become taxpayers instead of tax recipients. 
Many of those young men who lived there often came back to see and 
thank him.
  Wherever his careers took him, Jerry remained dedicated to his 
family. He taught his two sons to love the outdoors, and they hunted 
and fished together and loved all things MSU. His terrific sense of 
humor made for many stories of their adventures. All the while his 
example taught them to care for those less fortunate. Jerry was a 
member of the original Elvis Presley Memorial Foundation Board, a 
Mason, and served on the board of the North Mississippi Medical Center. 
In 2014 he was named Tupelo's Outstanding Citizen. Jerry is survived by 
his wife of sixty-four years Tula, his sons Clay (Lisa) and Matt 
(Donna), his grandchildren Jacob Washington (Rachel), Davis Clayton 
(Kelsey), Grace McClay Clayton, Carter Clayton (Anna Grace), Walker 
Clayton and Anna Kees Clayton and four great grandchildren: Knox, 
Graham, Eve and Stella. He is also survived by his nephews Brad and 
Robbie Clayton.
  He was preceded in death by his parents and his brother Joe Clayton.

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