Gene Donald Clayton

The youngest of three boys, Gene was intelligent, industrious and precocious, repairing and selling bicycles to his peers as a pre-teen. Recognizing quality even at that age, he cut up his mother’s sable fur coat and used the pelt for seat covers. And yes, it’s true, as a boy he really did accidentally burn down his grandfather’s large dairy barn. Born in Duluth, MN, he moved with the family to San Diego and then Chicago during his teenage years. Always ambitious, after graduating high school, Gene obtained a degree from the De Vries Electronics Institute. Joining the Marines in 1958, he was stationed in Honolulu and assigned to the Hawaiian Armed Services Patrol (HASP), with communications, patrol, and classified duties. While investigating a case he met Linda Rae Frost. They married in 1961. Returning to California upon discharge, Gene began a diverse career path. He was a policeman, a cattle rancher, a weekend rodeo rider, and a land surveyor in Alaska, all before starting college. He ran 300 head of cattle while attending the Oregon Institute of Technology, graduating as a civil engineer in 1969. He was Mining Operations Engineer at the Kennecott copper mine in Ruth, NV until the mine closed in 1978. Gene also worked in other mines and as a land surveyor and county engineer in Nevada. 

But life wasn’t all work. Daughters Tiffany and Shelley added much happiness to Gene’s life. They enjoyed fishing, camping, boating, skiing, and traipsing around Gene’s work projects. According to Shelley, the girls never had time to sit and watch TV. Gene married his second wife, Diana McGahn, in 1983. He eventually worked for Towill, Inc., a mapping, surveying, and GIS company. Besides land surveying, he managed pipeline and powerline installations. Moving to Redding, CA, Gene built a large workshop, repaired cars, restored trailers and boats, gardened, created a koi pond, did woodworking and welding, and fixed whatever was broken. The family boated and fished on Lake Shasta and at the coast. He and Diana were active with the Shasa Miners and Prospectors Association. He especially enjoyed metal detecting. The only thing that could slow him down was Parkinson’s Disease, and eventually it did. Diagnosed in 2008, Gene was forced to retire.

In 2020, Gene met his final partner, Lois Langlois of Ashland, OR, whom he called the love of his life. He soon moved in with her. Lois loved him as passionately as he loved her. They traveled, danced, laughed, camped, and attended the theater. As time went by, he couldn’t quite accept that he was not allowed to drive anymore. Lois took excellent, compassionate care of Gene until the end of his life. Gene was preceded in death by his parents, James and Ellen (Miller) Clayton; his two brothers, Neal and Arlan; and his second wife, Diana. He is remembered dearly by his daughters, Tiffany Clayton and Shelly Ragano; grandson Dominic Gene Ragano; first wife Linda Clayton; partner Lois and her extended family, plus many friends. Donations may be made in Gene’s memory to The Michael J. Fox Foundation or to Parkinson’s Resources of Oregon. Interment services will be held for Gene at 2:00 PM Friday, September, 12, 2025, at the California VA Cemetery at 11800 Gas Point Road, Igo, CA. A Celebration of Life will be held the following day, September 13, 2025 at 1:30 PM at the Bellview Grange, 1050 Tolman Creek Road, Ashland, OR.

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