Clayton E. Myers, 82, passed away on Nov. 7th. Clayton was born on Aug. 15, 1931, in the family farmhouse outside of Auburn, Ind., in DeKalb County. He was the 4th of 5 sons born to Guy and Gladys Grogg Myers.
He spent his childhood during the Great Depression working on the family farm and playing baseball in a local league organized by his father.
In high school he demonstrated talent in football and played for the Auburn High School team that went undefeated in 1949, the year he graduated. He was on the football team at Purdue University during his freshman year, but then took time away to save money for tuition. In 1951 he married Elnora M. Smith and within several months was drafted into the Army. He was sent overseas to Korea for the remainder of the war. Upon his return to the states, he returned to Purdue with the assistance of the GI Bill, receiving his BS in Biology and MA in education.
After graduation, Clayton, Elly and his young children began a succession of moves around central Indiana as he took a series of coaching jobs that resulted in the family moving to Greenfield in 1961. Clayton taught biology and began coaching at Greenfield HS and then at Greenfield-Central HS. His track teams enjoyed great success and he coached several athletes to regional and state championships. It was his coaching of football that brought his greatest success. He became head football coach in Greenfield in the 1960’s. His teams produced a long series of winning seasons and conference championships over the years. The pinnacle of his coaching career occurred in 1973 when his G-CHS Cougars football team won the inaugural Class 2A Indiana State Championship. He was the head coach for the Indiana South All-Star football squad in the 1970’s and was elected into the Indiana High School Football Hall of Fame. The Greenfield-Central HS football field is named in his honor.
Clayton is survived by his four children, Daniel (Miguel), Sleepy Hollow, N.Y., Diana, Deborah and Donald (Sandra), all of Fishers, Ind.; and his two grandchildren, Hunter (Courtney), Dayton, Ohio, and Lindsey of Lafayette, Ind. He is also survived by a brother, Kenneth (Sonya) of Florida, sisters-in-law, Thelma Myers and Harriet Myers, both of Auburn, Ind., and brother and sister-in-law, Ben and Peg Muzzillo of Winona Lake, Ind.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 61 years, Elnora; his parents; and his brothers, Gerald, Robert and Ralph Myers.
Visitation will take place 4 – 8 p.m. at Erlewein Mortuaries on Sunday, Nov. 10th. Funeral services will be held at Erlewein on Monday, Nov. 11th at 10 a.m. and will be conducted by Reverend John Paulson of the First Presbyterian Church of Greenfield. Burial will take place immediately following the ceremony in Park Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to The Society for Melanoma Research, www.societymelanomaresearch.org.
