H. Clay Gravely IV, 40, of Martinsville, Va., passed away on Thursday, December 21, 2017. He is survived by his wife Jennifer and their son, H. Clay Gravely V “Quinn,” and are expecting a second son, Brooks, next summer. He is also survived by his mother Crystal Gravely Helbing Austin (Jim) and brother Glynn Coryell Gravely (Rikki). He was predeceased by his father H. Clay Gravely III.
Clay and Jennifer married in 2013, and welcomed their first son in 2016.
Clay was born in Martinsville on May 1, 1977. He attended Carlisle School, Holland Christian High School in Michigan and graduated from Phillips Academy in Massachusetts. Clay received a bachelor’s degree from the University of Virginia in 1999 where he was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi Fraternity and the Honor Council. He received his law degree from the T.C. Williams School of Law at the University of Richmond in 2004. While there, he served two years as a senior staff member of the University of Richmond Law Review, and was a member and chief justice of the Honor Council.
Clay was elected and served as the Commonwealth’s Attorney for the City of Martinsville from 2014 to 2017 and was reelected to serve a second term in November 2017.
Prior to serving as Commonwealth’s Attorney, Clay managed a private law practice in Martinsville. He also served as an Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney in Martinsville; an associate of the Daniel, Medley & Kirby, P.C. firm in Martinsville; a litigation associate at Hirschler Fleischer, P.C. in Richmond; a law clerk for Judge Jackson L. Kiser of the U.S. District Court from the Western District of Virginia; worked at the National Republican Committee headquarters in Washington, D.C.; and served as an assistant campaign manager for a congressional candidate in Michigan.
Clay was a board member or member of the Kiwanis Club of Martinsville-Henry County, the Boys & Girls Club of the Blue Ridge, the Virginia Museum of Natural History and the Dan River Basin Association. He was a longtime attendee of and counselor at the Culver Summer Schools and Camps in Indiana.
A funeral service will be held at 2:00 p.m. on Tuesday, December 26, 2017 at Christ Episcopal Church. A private burial will follow. A reception will be held on Wednesday, December 27 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the Christ Episcopal Church Parish House.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorial donations be made to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center or Duke Cancer Institute.
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