“font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family:” lang=”EN-US” xml:lang=”EN-US”>Evelyn Clay was born Evelyn Lorraine Watkins on August 18, 1922. She was the second child and first daughter of Marcellus and Lucille Settles Watkins. Ola M. Senter, Marcellus Watkins and Melvin Watkins are the three remaining of ten siblings. Evelyn was educated through the St. Louis Public School System, where she was a member of the National Honor Society before graduating from Vashon High School in 1941.
“font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family:” lang=”EN-US” xml:lang=”EN-US”>Upon graduation, Evelyn funded her higher education through Stowe Teacher College by working for the City Recreation Department as an arts and crafts instructor at Columbus and DeSoto Playgrounds and Tandy Recreation Center. There she met the man who became her loving husband, Irving C. Clay, Jr., to whom she remained married for sixty-two years. Evelyn then joined the Catholic Church. Eventually, she and Irving had two children: Diane Keys (Milton) and Irving Church Clay (Patricia).
“font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family:” lang=”EN-US” xml:lang=”EN-US”>While a student at Stowe, she joined the Sigma Gamma Rho Sorotiy and made the Dean’s List of students who had earned an outstanding grade point average. Evelyn graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education before returning to the City’s school system as a teacher at Attucks and Dessaline Elementary Schools and Sumner High School. In 1955, she was one of the first of a group of highly qualified teachers selected to integrate the City Public School System when she accepted a teaching position at Gundlach School. Administrators and teachers, both of whom sought her out as an unofficial mentor, recognized Evelyn’s master teaching abilities. She was a charter member of the St. Louis Teachers’ Union Local 420.
“font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family:” lang=”EN-US” xml:lang=”EN-US”>In 1974, Evelyn retired from the City school system and emigrated from St. Louis to Richmond, Virginia with her husband Irving, where she became a substitute teacher in the public schools of Richmond. While in Richmond, she was also employed as a recreation therapist at the Medical College of Virginia, and later she became a tour guide for that city’s historical sites. Upon her return to St. Louis, she wholly embraced her retirement and played an essential role in the teaching and rearing of her granddaughter, Kara Keys, and in time, her two great-grandchildren, John Keys and Malica Marteen. In keeping with her religious roots, Evelyn became a faithful member of St. Alphonsus Rock Catholic Church. She also took further delight in her retirement as a tourist of the United States and as an international traveler.
“font-size: 12.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; font-family:” lang=”EN-US” xml:lang=”EN-US”>Although Evelyn had formally left the teaching profession, she never stopped teaching by example, as well as directly instructing family and friends. She became deeply touched after one of her former students published in an article she’d written for Family Circle Magazine, a statement crediting Mrs. Clay, her first grade teacher, for instilling in her a love for reading and the printed word. Family members, neighbors, coworkers and friends alike, acknowledge that Evelyn was their role model for how to live their lives with quality, dignity, and a healthy respect for education. After struggling for several years with health problems, Evelyn succumbed to a debilitating illness on December 19, 2010. Evelyn W. Clay leaves to mourn: her devoted husband of sixty-two years, Irving C. Clay, Jr.; one daughter, Diane C. Keys; one son, Irving C. Clay, III (Patricia); one sister, Ola M. Senter; two brothers, Marcellus and Melvin Watkins; four sisters-in-law and two brothers-in-law, Mary E. Lloyd, William L. Clay (Carol), Flora Everett (Willie), Delores Clay, and a host of nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
