Clay Clement White

Clay was a quiet, gentle, deeply religious man who loved his family more than anything except his Father in Heaven and Savior, Jesus Christ. His motto was “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”

Clay was born in Duchesne, Utah on October 28, 1947. He was the youngest of eight children and enjoyed many adventures with his three brothers and four sisters, including barn burnings and a trip with his dog to the middle of town while in his diaper. When he turned seven, his family moved to Emmett, Idaho where he worked alongside his father tending the BYU-owned apple orchards. Clay was a talented athlete. He pitched for his high school baseball team, throwing so well that he was never allowed to play another position. Catchers didn’t want to catch for him because his pitches were so fast – one of them even broke a catcher’s hand. He also played basketball, football, and the trumpet in high school. Clay also has a beautiful, clear tenor voice and he loved to sing with his brothers and later, his wife and children. He spent many hours with his children gathered around his knee while he played the guitar and sang hymns, John Denver songs, and even Sesame Street songs.

Clay served a two-year mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to Taiwan. He rarely spoke the language until he was around Mandarin speakers and then he often surprised his family with his fluency. After returning home, he wanted to become a pilot but was not able to due to poor eyesight. He did join the Air Force and after two years he met Lorna Woodland while stationed in Spokane, Washington. Clay told the story that he was at a party and saw Lorna for the first time and thought, “That’s my wife. She is the mother of my children.” The following week he told her to save him a seat at a fireside they were attending. Three days later they were engaged and three months later they were married. They have been a constant example to many around them of a blissful, loving, happy couple and a good argument for proof of “love at first sight.”

Clay and Lorna’s family quickly grew. They were blessed with a daughter, Angela, and not too long after, another daughter, Emilee, was born to them while in Spokane. Clay left the Air Force to build houses but decided instead to re-enter the military as an Army officer. They moved to Ogden, Utah where they welcomed their third daughter, Carisa. Clay graduated from Weber State University with a bachelor’s degree in political science and then the young family moved to El Paso, Texas where the first son, Patrick, made his entrance. Key West, Florida was the next stop, and a fourth daughter, Mandi, joined the party. After Key West, the family traveled back to Ogden where daughter number five, Anita, was born. Their next orders took them overseas to Germany, where Clay was the Battery Commander, and a son, Nathaniel, became the newest member of the family. Heading back to the “States,” and to Ogden once more, Nicole made the family a perfect ten, and the Clay and Lorna White family was complete. While his kids were young, Clay became interested in computers and taught himself to code. He also gave his kids bootlegged versions of video games to play on the military-issued Commodore 64.

After career retirement, Clay and Lorna served a couple’s mission to the California Carlsbad Mission and a service mission in Addiction Recovery Services, which included local prisons, for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Clay also loved classical music, working in the temple, Tootsie Rolls, black licorice/candy corn/Spanish peanuts mixed, ice cream, pineapple upside-down cake, woodworking, Perry Mason, and Hogan’s Heroes. He had a sense of humor and a dry wit that only those closest to him got to witness.

Clay is preceded in death by his parents, Alfonzo and Vail White, six of his siblings, Aleen, Mary, Dixie, Winton, Gordon, and Reeves, and a grandson, Michael. He is survived by his sister, Jessie, his wife Lorna, his children Angela (Josh) Crawford, Emilee (Jeff) Day, Carisa (Jared) Harris, Patrick (Janille) White, Mandi Moon, Anita (Wyatt) Hansen, Nathaniel (Hilary) White, and Nicole (Jaymon) Thomas, twenty-seven grandchildren, and ten great-grandchildren.

We will miss him dearly, but because of the sealing ordinance we know we will see him again and that he is rejoicing, free of pain, and having an incredible reunion with those who went before him.

An evening viewing for Clay will be held Sunday, July 7, 2024 from 6:00 PM to 6:45 PM at Mount Jordan 2nd Ward, 9331 South 300 East, Sandy, Utah 84070. A Moment of Reflection will follow the viewing from 7:00 PM to 7:15 PM and a Celebration of Life from 7:20 PM to 8:00 PM. A graveside service will occur Monday, July 8, 2024 at 10:00 AM at Fairview City Cemetery, Cemetery Road, (Upper Portion), Fairview, Utah 84629.