Clayton Stanley Phelan

Clayton Stanley Phelan, age 64, of Collierville, Tennessee passed away on Tuesday, October 1, 2024. He is survived by his wife Pamela, sister Jennifer, children Christian, Joshua, Rebecca, and Matthew, and 10 grandchildren. He was born in Miami, Florida where he lived until the age of 12, enjoying fishing and swimming. Atlanta, Georgia was his next stop, where he enjoyed playing baseball and football, eventually playing in a semi-pro football league. He was an avid swimmer, setting records on the swim team in high school and working as a lifeguard at Stone Mountain and YMCA. His love for aircraft, particularly airplanes, began at a young age when he dreamed of becoming a pilot. His mother spent much of her career as a flight attendant which made flying accessible for the family. Turbulence during these flights thrilled and excited him to the point of inspiring him to become a pilot. Shortly after high school he began a career in aircraft maintenance, first working on helicopters and later airplanes. His maintenance career spilled over into his hobbies that included car maintenance, at one point a beloved Nissan 280z. In 1991 he moved the family to Cincinnati, Ohio for a chance to begin working on airplanes. After a few chilly years the family moved to Chesapeake, Virginia in 1993. Here he enjoyed playing in various softball leagues and taking the family to the beach. Clay enjoyed watching all kinds of sports, but especially baseball (Atlanta Braves), NFL football (Miami Dolphins), and college football (Virginia Tech). In 2009 he moved to Memphis, Tennessee to continue his maintenance career, this time at FedEx, where he met his longtime friend Jed Weiher.

An informal memorial will be held to celebrate Clay’s life. Details coming soon.

In lieu of flowers please make a donation in Clay’s name to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital so that others may have a chance at cancer. He overcame cancer twice, pancreatic and bladder, which blessed us another ten years with him.

St. Jude link

https://www.stjude.org/donate/donate-to-st-jude.html?express=0&sc_icid=mem-lp-donate-bttn-top&frequency_selected=0&product_code=ECGLMMENAMemorialRiveredge