Clayton Albert Schubert

Clayton Albert Schubert (May 25,1937 - October 1, 2025) was an exceptional husband, father, grandfather, great grandfather, brother, son, and business owner. In his presence, you knew his love. He absolutely loved his wife Joy of 65 years, who survives him, his three children Jeff (Deb), Susan (Hisanao), Lisa (Jeff J), grandchildren Nick, Jake (Christine), Grace (Justin), Sophie (Spencer), Isaac, Ben, Mai Li, and Kai, and great grandson Owen. Clayton lived a storybook life. He grew up in south Minneapolis, the son of a department store clerk (Alice) and a presser in a fine men's suit shop (Albert). While they didn't have much money, they had love. His brother Tom (Nila) was his earliest best friend with whom he later served 8 years in the Navy Reserve, service that helped him travel for the first time, pay his way through the University of Minnesota, and graduate with a degree in accounting. It was as a college student, working one of his first jobs for $13 per week, that he walked into a bank to cash his paycheck and met the love of his life, the teller on the other side of the counter. With his wife Joy, he bought a house in Bloomington, which at the time a relative had warned was "just a mudhole," and set out to build a family. Clayton's family was the most important part of his life. He came home like clockwork at lunch to discuss business with Joy and at 5:00pm to play with Jeff, Sue, and Lisa in the sandbox, help out with homework, or coach one of their sports teams, even if he had never played the sport himself. Later, Clayton and Joy became devoted grandparents, babysitting their grandchildren after school and celebrating their many accomplishments in science, theater, dance, and sports. He particularly cherished gathering his whole family together at their cabin on Lake Sylvia, the same lake he had camped at and canoed across as a Boy Scout. Throughout their lives, Clayton and Joy traveled the world, including to Germany and Norway where they researched family history, a project they worked on with Clayton's brother Dan (Korrie), Antarctica where they walked with penguins, and Taiwan where they helped their youngest child adopt their youngest grandchild. Clayton lived a life of humility. While he told neighbors he was a bookkeeper at a local business, he actually was the CEO of Forklifts of Minnesota, a company he gained an ownership stake in in the 1980s and, with his son, wife, and an incredible team of talented employees, grew into a very successful forklift dealership. Forklifts of Minnesota has been named the CLARK North American Dealer of the Year five times, and Clayton has been memorialized as an Ambassador Emeritus of CLARK Forklifts, with an endowment established at the University of Kentucky in his name. "The business model your father implemented," said one of his employees, "is basically being a good human being." Clayton's business was successful because he knew and cared for each of his 140 employees like they were family. And some of them were family. In addition to his son Jeff, Clayton's legacy at Forklifts of Minnesota carries on in his grandsons Nick and Jake and son-in-law Hisanao. A devoted member of St. Stephen Lutheran Church in Bloomington since 1961, his life will be celebrated there on Friday, October 10, 2025, with visitation at 10:00am, the service at 11:00am, and a luncheon to follow. All who knew and loved him are welcome.