Sidney Clay Willmington

S. Clay Willmington

S. Clay Willmington, age 92, of Lake Geneva, formerly of Green Lake, died peacefully on Tuesday, January 6, 2026.

He was born March 30, 1933, at home in Greene County, Illinois, to Ralph and Geraldine Dawdy Willmington and given the name Sidney Clay Willmington. During his early years, his family lived on a small Illinois farm with no electricity, tractors, or telephone, milking cows the old-fashioned way, and attending a one-room country school. From there, they moved to the inner-city of Chicago where he started high school. Then moving to Wisconsin, he graduated from Kenosha High School and obtained a B.S. degree from UW-Madison and master's and Ph. D. degrees from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. In 1954, he was united in marriage to Barbara Clish in Kenosha, and in 1982, Ruth Moll Guenther in Neenah. Both preceded him in death. On August 20, 2011, he was united in marriage to Lucia Eastman Huntress at Federated Church in Green Lake.

Clay was a career speech teacher and coach, teaching in several high schools, colleges, and universities in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, California and North Carolina. His longest tenure was at UW-Oshkosh where he was Professor of Speech Communication and Education for 29 years. Clay was an active member and officer in several speech communication and education organizations on the local, state and national levels.

When he retired at age 65, Clay started participating in many state and national Sr. Olympics contests, especially in basketball and softball, until he was 90 years old. He was a charter member of the Montello "Men of Granite" softball team and played basketball for many years with the early morning guys at Markesan High School. Clay also played on Sr. softball and basketball teams in Florida where Lucia and he enjoyed several winters at their condo in Fort Myers.

One of Clay's favorite Bible verses was Matthew 25:45 where Jesus said that to deny help to those who are hungry, thirsty, or in need of clothing or health care, we deny these services to Him. Consequently, he volunteered his services to several organizations who assist people who are having a hard time making it without help from people like Habitat for Humanity, nursing homes, Hospice, AARP Wisconsin and Meals on Wheels. Clay supported Boys Town, Salvation Army and Common Cause Wisconsin. After witnessing shameful discrimination against racial minorities as a teen in Chicago and discrimination against gay, lesbian, and transgender persons later in life, he always did what he could to promote equal respect & opportunity for all.

He is survived by his wife, Lucia Willmington; daughter, Laurie (Mick) Loughrin; son, Ross (Gerri) Willmington; granddaughter, Felicia (Tyler) Smith; six stepchildren, Susan Coatney, Karen (David) Johnson, Kurt Guenther, Karl (Sarah) Guenther, Sarah Guenther and Randall (Liza) Huntress; eight step-grandchildren; a step-great-granddaughter expected in February; brother, Dr. Edwin (Mary Lou) Willmington; brothers-in-law, Larry Gilbertson and Eugene (Gladys) Moll; sisters-in-law, Lorna Wulff, Dolly Moll and Sue Anderson; and nieces and nephews. Clay was preceded in death by his two wives, Barbara Willmington and Ruth Willmington; sister, Josephine (Larry) Gilbertson; and two brothers-in-law, Bill Wulff and Robert Anderson.

A gathering of family and friends will be held on Saturday, January 10, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., at Federated Church in Green Lake. Memorial services will be held at 11:30 a.m., with Rev. Karen Gygax Rodriguez officiating. Inurnment will be in Heritage Hills Cemetery near Random Lake at a later date. Arrangements have been entrusted to Barbola Funeral Chapel in Berlin. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the S. Clay Willmington Memorial Fund, established in support of Federated Church, PO Box 471, Green Lake, WI 54941. Anyone wishing to send a sympathy card to the family, please mail to Clay Willmington, c/o Barbola Funeral Chapel, PO Box 201, Berlin, WI 54923.