Marilyn Sue (nee Meyer) Clayton, age 85, fell asleep in the Lord in the joyful confidence of the resurrection in Jesus Christ on Tuesday, July 8, 2025, at the Good Shepherd Care Community in Concordia, MO, surrounded and supported by her loving family. Marilyn was born on April 16, 1940, in Ft. Wayne, IN to Romain and Mildred (nee Fricke) Meyer. On June 13, 1940, Marilyn became a member of the family of God as she was baptized at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ft. Wayne. Her family moved several times through her childhood as her father advanced in his career in sales at the Pennsylvania Railroad, with stops in Chicago, IL, St. Louis, MO, and Devon, PA before settling in Wilmington, DE. Marilyn was confirmed in her Christian faith and began receiving the life-giving body and blood of Jesus Christ in the Lord’s Supper at Concordia Lutheran Church in Wilmington, DE on March 29, 1953. At the time of her death, Marilyn was a member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, Concordia, MO.
Following her high school graduation, Marilyn attended Valparaiso University in Indiana to pursue a bachelor’s degree in teaching. Upon graduation, she began a teaching career in Wilmington, DE. While attending a “Singles Weekend” through Concordia Lutheran Church in Wilmington, DE, she came to know the vicar assigned to Concordia, who was chaperoning the retreat, Gary Clayton. The “Singles Weekend” led to them becoming a couple, and they were united in Holy Matrimony on October 25, 1971, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Cole Camp, MO, where the Rev. Gary Clayton had been assigned as pastor. This union was blessed with four children: Kirk, Becky, Richard, and Rachel. The pastoral ministry took the Clayton family, in addition to Cole Camp, MO to Cold Spring, MN, Fulda, MN, and Concordia, MO. In various locations, Marilyn lived out her vocation as a teacher by serving as a classroom teacher, a substitute teacher, assisting with school lunches, and coordinating birthday cakes for students on their birthdays.
Marilyn was blessed with the gift of hospitality. Anyone who stopped by the Clayton house was likely treated to at least a snack, if not a full home-cooked meal. In addition to faithfully supporting the needs of an active household, Marilyn enjoyed gardening and reading. She strongly supported her children in their activities and cherished opportunities to spend time with her beloved grandchildren, especially holding them on her lap and reading books with them.
Marilyn is survived by her four children, their spouses, and grandchildren: Kirk and Lori (nee Aukamp) Clayton and their children Johnathan, Matthew (Olivia, nee Hitz), Nathaniel, Abigail, Isaiah, and Samuel Clayton; Becky and Eric Hipple and their children Peter, Anna, and Benjamin Hipple; Richard and Jenn (nee Minks) Clayton and their children, Jaxson and Liam Clayton; and Rachel and Todd Martens and their children Shilah, Claira, Elaina, and Eli Martens. She is also survived by her sister Carol Goetz, her brothers-in-law David (Judy) Clayton and Jesse Kunkel, and numerous nieces and nephews.
Marilyn was preceded in death by her husband, Rev. Gary Clayton, her parents, Romain and Mildred (nee Fricke) Meyer, her parents-in-law, Richard and Henrietta (nee Fick) Clayton, her brothers-and-sisters-in-law, Lee Goetz, Dorothy and Clarence Meyer, Robert and Roberta Clayton, Pauline Clayton, Jeannine Clayton, and Garda Kunkel.
Her family entrusts her into the Lord’s care in the certain hope of the resurrection, relying on the words of 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.” (English Standard Version)
Funeral services will be held at 11:00 a.m. Saturday, July 26, 2025, at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Concordia. Visitation will be held from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. prior to the service with burial following in St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery. Memorials are suggested to St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, St. Paul’s Lutheran Grade School or Saint Paul Lutheran High School all of Concordia. Friends may sign the online register book at http://www.campbell-lewis.com.