John Clayton (28 Mar 1949 - 30 Dec 2021)

In loving memory of John Henry Clayton who sadly passed away on 30th December 2021. A much loved family man and friend to many.

Dad was born in Chesterfield, son of John"Jack" and Nora Clayton, brother to Maureen and Ruth. Dad went to North Wingfield, Diencourt and Heath schools. After leaving school he worked at Woodheads shop and the abattoir. After grandad moved to harworth colliery dad also worked at the pit and glass bulbs. Dad met mum through my auntie and uncle and had two children, me and my sister Beryl.

We moved to Misterton for a while and then moved back to harworth and dad helped to look after grandad after he had a stroke. He also worked for Doncaster council, North Notts landscapes, Siemens, the sandwich factory and various veg packing companies. I'm sure there is other places too.

Dad was also a local and district councillor and always tried his best to help local people. He also attended various conferences and the European parliament to try to get investment into the local area.
The highlight for him was becoming the chairman of Bassetlaw district council and taking mum to different charity fund raising events. They also went
Germany for a town twinning ceremony.
Dad was asked to consider standing for the European parliament but turned it down because he enjoyed trying to help local people to best of his ability.
I'm sure that he won't have pleased everyone but you can rest assured that it wouldn't have been for a lack of trying.
Dad also did lots of charity bike rides and once rode from Blackpool tower to Skegness clock tower in one day by himself.

He gave up with politics so him and mum could enjoy some time together and would often catch the train to different (mainly seaside) places. After mum passed away in 2015 dad eventually got back to train journeys to different places and particularly enjoyed York railway museum. Unfortunately dad had an accident were he fell between the train and platform and after that he lost his confidence. Our cousin Martin stepped in at this point taking to appointments and different places with him.

Dad was starting to get forgetful in his later years and once left the gas on the gas cooker on. Early in 2021 he had a heart attack and fairly long stay in hospital were he was diagnosed with three blocked valves, but due to other health problems it was not safe for them to operate. When he came home he was determined to get healthy so he could have the operation but he was very confused. He was diagnosed with dementia and had to stay at my sister's for a while. His health and diabetes was getting worse and he had more heart attacks and stays in hospital. He was in hospital for the last three weeks of his life and had various infections and one on his kidneys was septic. Dad battled hard to the end and didn't give in easily but his body couldn't take anymore and he eventually lost his battle on the morning of the 30th of December 2021.

Dad was a gent and had a heart of gold. He lived life to the full for as long as he could. You can see from the photos that even this year he was getting dressed up for a Halloween party and made us cry laugh because he looked like Alice Cooper 🤣. He doted on his grandkids and would do anything he could for them.

I've tried to fit a lifetime into a few paragraphs and it has been incredibly hard, so if I've made some mistakes I apologise.

We all love you and miss you so much dad xxxx.