Bennie Clayton

Bennie (Ben) Edward Clayton, Jr., age 92, of Oakton, Virginia passed away on October 24, 2020 at Virginia Veterans Care Center as a result of complications arising from the Covid-19 virus.

Ben will be buried in the Denton Town Cemetery beside his wife Cynthia Lanier Clayton.

A memorial service will be planned for a later date.

Bennie was born November 18, 1927, in South Hill, Virginia to Bennie Edward Clayton, Sr. and Bertha Morgan Clayton.

He grew up in Chatham, Ontario, Canada, as his father moved the family there, when he obtained a job with the Canadian Tobacco Company. Ben enjoyed playing ice hockey and basketball as a young man. He attended Wake Forest University in North Carolina, before enlisting in the U.S. Army at the end of World War II. He served as a medic with the Occupation Forces in Italy and Yugoslavia. Upon returning to the U.S., he completed his university studies and graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. Throughout his long career with the Federal Government, he worked for various agencies, including the National Security Agency, the National Bureau of Standards, and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

He was working as a high school teacher in Lexington, NC, where he met and married Denton native Cynthia Jo Lanier, in 1955. She passed away in January 2006.

Ben is survived by his two sons, Jeffrey M. Clayton and David E. Clayton, Jeffrey’s wife, Luz Stella Mejia, a grandson, Alexander M. Clayton, a step-grandson, Nicolas Rodriguez and his wife, Kelly Ellis, and a step-great grandson, Seth M. Rodriguez-Ellis.

Online Condolences may be made at www.briggsfuneralhome.com