Clair Elkington

Clair Niel Elkington passed away peacefully on June 11, 2025, at the age of 85 at his home in Las Vegas, Nevada. Clair was born in Tooele, Utah on November 16, 1939, to Glen H. and Zola C. Elkington.
He grew up in Tooele, Utah and attended Tooele schools, excelling in athletics – particularly football and basketball – lettering in both, and served in student government. He frequently told his children that he had been "the big man on campus," and up until his final days he could tell high school stories about his athletic prowess, except that time he dropped the touchdown pass in the high school state championship game.
He loved Tooele. He had fond memories of his youth and spending time in town with his family and friends through the years. It is fitting that he now returns home to his beloved hometown..
He achieved the rank of Eagle Scout in the scouting program. He learned to love the outdoors in his youth; a love he held his entire life. As a father, he loved to take his children camping, hiking, and fishing. One of his favorite things to do was to go "off trail" while hiking with his oldest sons when they were young, leading to adventures such as traversing swamps, resulting in the need to remove leaches from various body parts, and crawling over downed trees with heavy backpacks. He also served in the Tooele National Guard Engineering unit for four years.
He earned a full-ride athletic scholarship to the University of Utah after graduating from Tooele High in 1958. He played football with the Utes for two years, loving every minute of it. He remained an avid Ute fan for the rest of his life and loved the game of football, especially those autumn Saturdays when the Utes and Cougars were facing off on the gridiron. To him, those hours were a piece of heaven.
He took a break from college football (classes too, but those were secondary to football) to serve a 2 ½ year mission in Norway for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He loved the Church and had a strong testimony of the Gospel. He was an active member throughout his life and held various Church positions.
After returning from his mission, he transferred to Brigham Young University where he left his football career behind and met his future wife, Alexa Spencer. The two graduated from BYU together and were married August 12, 1966, in the Salt Lake Temple.
He wanted to be a high school football coach, so to that end he accepted a high school biology teaching job at Montebello High School, Montebello, CA. Going to Southern California was a big step into the world for the kid from Tooele. After a couple of years teaching and coaching, he decided teaching and coaching were not his life's calling, so he joined J. Edgar Hoover's Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 1970, becoming a G-man-an FBI Special Agent. His FBI career spanned 25 years and took him on assignments across the nation, beginning with Portland, Oregon. The FBI then moved his family to Spokane Washington; Wilmington, Delaware; and finally, Las Vegas, Nevada, where he retired in October 1995. He loved being an FBI Agent and regarded it as a way to serve the communities and nation in which he and his family lived and prospered.
Throughout his life Clair was a caring and loyal husband and father, even when his five children were teenagers and tested the boundaries of his patience. He loved spending time with them doing all varieties of activities-camping, fishing, hiking, playing or watching ball games, going for a drive-even across the country-or just visiting (but he did not like to go to the opera). If he was with his family, it was all good.
Clair is survived by his wife, Alexa, and five children: Stuart (Rosanne), David (Tiffany), Tamara, Douglas, and Thomas (Scarlet); and 11 grandchildren, Zachary, Jamie, and Riley Elkington; Rachel, Spencer, and Mallory Elkington; Kolton Elkington; and Jesse, Aspen, Lyla, and Annabelle Elkington.
He is also survived by his brother Don (Dawn) Elkington, sister-in-law Karen Elkington, and his sister, Diane Sagers.
He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Brice and Kent Elkington, brother-in-law, Larry Sagers, and granddaughter, Zoe Elkington.
Funeral services will be at noon on Saturday, June 21, 2025, at the Tooele 4th Ward building, 192 W. 200 S. Tooele, UT. A viewing will be at 11 a.m. at the same location.