Archie Barnard Clayton
October 23, 1926 — February 17, 2018
Archie Barnard ("A.B.") Clayton passed away in Jacksonville, FL at 5:03 a.m. EDT on Saturday, 17 February 2018. Two of his three children, Melissa ("Missy") Johnston and Bartley ("Bart") Clayton, were with him, as well as two of his grandchildren (Melissa and Clayton Burklin) and his son-in-law, Rob Johnston. He is survived, also, by his wife, Melissa Screws Clayton, to whom he had been married for over 66 years, and his oldest son, Brian Clayton. A.B. leaves behind 10 grandchildren (Matthew, Scott, and Andrew Clayton, sons of Brian and Gayle Clayton; Will and Catie Clayton, children of Bart and Amy Clayton; Trey, Melissa, and Clayton Burklin, children of Missy Johnston; Bria and Cole Johnston, children of Missy and Rob Johnston) and 13 great-grandchildren.
A.B. was born in Fort Payne, AL on 23 October 1926 to Dr. Olney Walker Clayton and Flora Pauline Wheeler Clayton. He was the youngest of their four children. His older brother, Dr. O.W. ("Wool") Clayton, lives in Birmingham, AL. A.B.'s two older sisters, Mary Smith and Florence Baxter, preceded him in death.
After graduating from high school in Fort Payne, with his mother's permission A.B. enlisted as a seventeen-year-old in the Navy during the Second World War. He served on a destroyer escort in the Pacific. At the end of the war, he enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Alabama, where he earned his degree in civil engineering. Upon graduation, he went to work for the State of Alabama in what is now the Alabama Department of Transportation. It was during this time that he met and married Melissa Screws. They lived in her hometown of Talladega before moving to Huntsville, AL in 1960 when A.B. began working for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center. A.B. worked for NASA for twenty-five years and, then, upon his retirement from NASA, continued in the aerospace field working for United Space Boosters, Inc., also in Huntsville. When he finally retired, he and Melissa moved to Charlotte, NC to be near Missy and her family. When Missy and her husband, Rob Johnston, moved to Florida in 2016, A.B. and Melissa moved to Jacksonville so that they could be in an assisted living facility near Missy and Rob.
A.B.'s life was centered around his love of God, his wife, and his family. He was a faithful church-goer all his life and began almost every day with prayer and Bible reading. By the way he lived his life and treated others, he made it clear to all who knew him that God was the center of his life and love. This faithfulness in loving and serving God flowed over into his love of and service to his wife, his family, and his community. Only a short acquaintance with A.B. and Melissa was enough to make clear their devotion to each other, especially his love for her and his commitment to caring for her as she faced various health issues over the years. He modeled for his children and grandchildren the love, commitment, and self-sacrifice necessary for a long and successful marriage. Even as his strength and health faded, he wanted to be wherever Melissa was and to hold her hand. Until the end, they loved to sing together their favorite hymns and gospel songs.
When asked what words come to mind when they think of A.B., his children and grandchildren most frequently mention gentleness, strength, faithfulness, intelligence, humility, and kindness. He was, as Will Clayton put it, "a gentle spirit." He was never loud, brash, or self-aggrandizing. This is not to say that he was in any way weak. He was a strong man in body, mind, and spirit. To the very end, he had one of the strongest grips that any of us ever experienced. Until the last year or so of his life, he could outpace and outwalk almost any other member of the family. His mental strength was evident in his wonderful ability to focus on problems, to see to the heart of those problems, and to come up with practical solutions. His strength of spirit was very evident in his clarity on what he thought was right, true, and good. He taught his children that all people are to be treated with respect and dignity. He was able to express and stand for these things, however, in a way that was not arrogant. He had the ability to communicate his commitments and resolve with a firm but gentle voice and, frequently, a smile. He was faithful in his commitments to God, to his wife, to his family, and to his friends. One knew that he could be counted upon in time of need to provide a listening ear, as well as guidance, encouragement, love, and gentle correction. He never abandoned or gave up on others. His intelligence was evident not only in his career and in his study of Scripture, but also in his curiosity about the world and his interest in the enthusiasms of family and friends. In all these things, he was humble and kind. One usually had the feeling while talking with him that you were the entire focus of his attention and concern. Sometimes only later would one find out that at the very moment when he had been attending to you, he had been faced with the kind of pressing concerns that others would have found overwhelmingly distracting.
We will not soon see another like him. We are thankful to God that he was part of our lives.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
� 2 Timothy 4:7 [NKJV]
A.B. was born in Fort Payne, AL on 23 October 1926 to Dr. Olney Walker Clayton and Flora Pauline Wheeler Clayton. He was the youngest of their four children. His older brother, Dr. O.W. ("Wool") Clayton, lives in Birmingham, AL. A.B.'s two older sisters, Mary Smith and Florence Baxter, preceded him in death.
After graduating from high school in Fort Payne, with his mother's permission A.B. enlisted as a seventeen-year-old in the Navy during the Second World War. He served on a destroyer escort in the Pacific. At the end of the war, he enrolled in the College of Engineering at the University of Alabama, where he earned his degree in civil engineering. Upon graduation, he went to work for the State of Alabama in what is now the Alabama Department of Transportation. It was during this time that he met and married Melissa Screws. They lived in her hometown of Talladega before moving to Huntsville, AL in 1960 when A.B. began working for NASA at Marshall Space Flight Center. A.B. worked for NASA for twenty-five years and, then, upon his retirement from NASA, continued in the aerospace field working for United Space Boosters, Inc., also in Huntsville. When he finally retired, he and Melissa moved to Charlotte, NC to be near Missy and her family. When Missy and her husband, Rob Johnston, moved to Florida in 2016, A.B. and Melissa moved to Jacksonville so that they could be in an assisted living facility near Missy and Rob.
A.B.'s life was centered around his love of God, his wife, and his family. He was a faithful church-goer all his life and began almost every day with prayer and Bible reading. By the way he lived his life and treated others, he made it clear to all who knew him that God was the center of his life and love. This faithfulness in loving and serving God flowed over into his love of and service to his wife, his family, and his community. Only a short acquaintance with A.B. and Melissa was enough to make clear their devotion to each other, especially his love for her and his commitment to caring for her as she faced various health issues over the years. He modeled for his children and grandchildren the love, commitment, and self-sacrifice necessary for a long and successful marriage. Even as his strength and health faded, he wanted to be wherever Melissa was and to hold her hand. Until the end, they loved to sing together their favorite hymns and gospel songs.
When asked what words come to mind when they think of A.B., his children and grandchildren most frequently mention gentleness, strength, faithfulness, intelligence, humility, and kindness. He was, as Will Clayton put it, "a gentle spirit." He was never loud, brash, or self-aggrandizing. This is not to say that he was in any way weak. He was a strong man in body, mind, and spirit. To the very end, he had one of the strongest grips that any of us ever experienced. Until the last year or so of his life, he could outpace and outwalk almost any other member of the family. His mental strength was evident in his wonderful ability to focus on problems, to see to the heart of those problems, and to come up with practical solutions. His strength of spirit was very evident in his clarity on what he thought was right, true, and good. He taught his children that all people are to be treated with respect and dignity. He was able to express and stand for these things, however, in a way that was not arrogant. He had the ability to communicate his commitments and resolve with a firm but gentle voice and, frequently, a smile. He was faithful in his commitments to God, to his wife, to his family, and to his friends. One knew that he could be counted upon in time of need to provide a listening ear, as well as guidance, encouragement, love, and gentle correction. He never abandoned or gave up on others. His intelligence was evident not only in his career and in his study of Scripture, but also in his curiosity about the world and his interest in the enthusiasms of family and friends. In all these things, he was humble and kind. One usually had the feeling while talking with him that you were the entire focus of his attention and concern. Sometimes only later would one find out that at the very moment when he had been attending to you, he had been faced with the kind of pressing concerns that others would have found overwhelmingly distracting.
We will not soon see another like him. We are thankful to God that he was part of our lives.
"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
� 2 Timothy 4:7 [NKJV]
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