John Clayton

John (Jack) Clayton Jr. of Stow, passed away on Tuesday, April 10 at the age of 81, surrounded by his loving family including his wife of 58 years, Carol, and their three daughters, Susan, Dianne and Jacqueline. In addition to his immediate family, Jack is survived by his brother William and his wife Maila of Stow, a sister Mary Lugin and her husband Mike of South Carolina, five grandchildren, a great grandson, a niece and four nephews. Jack was born in 1930 in Marlboro, Massachusetts but lived most of his adult life in the Town of Stow. He worked as an electrical, mechanical and process engineer at Waters Manufacturing in Wayland, Mass., earning nine patents, despite receiving no formal education in that field and essentially being self-taught. While engineering was his occupation, the Town of Stow and volunteering on the town's Boards and Committees was his passion. He served twenty years as a Selectman and was appointed multiple times as Chairman of that Board. One year, after choosing not to run, he was again voted onto the Board by town residents who wrote his name onto their ballots, earning him enough votes to secure a seat for another term. He served for nearly thirty years as a Director of the Stow Elderly Housing Corporation and the Stow Community Housing Corporation, helping to create the first affordable housing units for elderly in Stow, and later for families. He also held a seat for twenty years on the Zoning Board of Appeals. Jack helped to create Stow's very first Town Charter, which transferred the daily management of the town from the Board of Selectmen to a Town Administrator. He served on the Bylaw Review Committee, Municipal Land Use Committee, Public Safety Policy Committee, Hale School Building Committee, Ground Water Study Committee and acted as a Civil Defense Director. When not involved with town government, he was organizing events and overseeing charitable works as an active member of the Stow Lions Club. Even though he was known as a prankster, he was always someone who could be counted on to bring people together – whether for a camping trip to his beloved White Mountains, a backyard cookout, or a town gathering. Even after retiring from Stow government, Jack still "held court" at his home with town servants and volunteers who sought his opinion on policy matters or advice on pending decisions. Jack Clayton will be remembered as a man whose proudest accomplishment was in what he gave back to his community as a volunteer. Achieving so much for so many, with total disregard for personal recognition, is the legacy he has left behind in Stow. His sense of fairness, humble dedication to others, and the friendship he offered to everyone who came to know him, will be sorely missed. A memorial service for Jack Clayton will be held Saturday, April 21 at 11am at the Union Congregational Church, 80 Main Street, Maynard, Massachusetts. In lieu of flowers, donations in Jack's name may be made to the Union Congregational Church and can be mailed to PO Box 211, Maynard, Ma. 017754.