Robert Clay

CLAY, Robert Young, age 73, of Richmond, Virginia, and a native of Dixon Springs, Tennessee, died May 6, 2010 in Henrico County after a brief illness complicated by a previous stroke. He was born September 4, 1936 to the late Robert Bell and Ruth Young Clay. Through his life, Mr. Clay was a heraldic artist, producing hundreds of paintings of coats of arms. After retirement he returned to landscape paintings, sold through galleries in Richmond and Alexandria, Virginia. He also conducted a lifetime of research on the Clay genealogy. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in 1960 from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, having studied painting under C. Kermit Ewing and Walter H. Stephens, after which he was employed by the UT Library. In 1969, he received his Master of Library Science degree from George Peabody College in Nashville. From 1970, when he moved to Richmond, until his retirement in 2001, he worked as a genealogical reference archivist with the Virginia State Library and Archives, now Library of Virginia. During that time and in retirement, he spoke nationally on research in Virginia records. Mr. Clay was a member of The Order of First Families of Virginia, The Order of First Families of North Carolina, the Order of the Crown in America and he was a fellow of the Virginia Genealogical Society. He was a member of the Church of Christ. He is survived by two aunts, Sara Ezell (Gilbert) Young and Frances Hickey (Odell) Young of Nashville, Tenn. Recently deceased were his aunts, Maurine Shivers (Elbert) Young of Nashville, Tenn., and Gracie Nichols (Frank) Young of Pulaski, Tenn. He is also survived by first cousins, Anne Escue Early (Loyd) Frashier of Malibu, Calif., Joanne Paschall (Ferris) Harmon and Elaine Young (James) McGuire of Atlanta, Ga., Janet Young Watson and Paul D. Young of Pulaski, Tenn., Dr. Larry D. Young of Mocksville, N.C., Linda Young (Grady) Bogue of Knoxville, Tenn., Glenda Young (James) Hutchenson and Jane Young of Nashville, Tenn., and Martin Young of Oxford, Miss. Mr. Clay will be buried with his parents and grandparents in the Clay family plot in the Dixon Springs Cemetery on Dixon Springs Circle in Dixon Springs, Tenn., on May 24, 2010. Visitation of family and friends will begin at 10 a.m. and services at 11 a.m. at the Dixon Springs Church of Christ near the cemetery, followed by a graveside service. Memorial contributions may be made to the Smith County Tenn. Historical & Genealogical Society, P.O. Box 112, Carthage, Tenn. 37030. SANDERSON OF CARTHAGE (615)735-2118 www.sandersonfh.com.


This obituary was originally published in the Richmond Times-Dispatch.