Services will be rescheduled due to the weather.

Jesse Clay was born in the Inglenook neighborhood of Birmingham, AL on August 29, 1941, to Tommie Lee (Harrison) and John B Clay.  He died peacefully under hospice care at the Springfield, MO, home of his daughter and son-in-law, Ginny and Michael Herfkens.

Jesse started life with little hope of experiencing the people and places he would see.  With his mother, Tommie Lee Clay and 5 siblings, life was tough.  He graduated from Phillips High School and quickly joined the US Coast Guard stationed on Governor's Island, NY.  The next 3 ½ years he spent part of his time on an Icebreaker in the Arctic off the coast of Greenland and partly in NY harbor with the opportunity to explore Ellis Island prior to it being open to the public.

Once he finished with his military duty, he remained in NYC for a short time to attend the NY School of Visual Arts.  It is also where he met and married his wife of 60 years, Ann (Mavroleon). She preceded him by 10 months.

Jesse and Ann moved from the city to Birmingham, AL, Jacksonville, FL, and then to the Orlando area.  Twenty-three years of that he spent as an Illustrator at Walt Disney World. Between his church family and work family he leaves a long list of friends that the "mouse" gathered from all corners of the world.

After semi-retiring they moved to the mountains of Georgia, then to the Branson/Springfield, MO area only to make the list of friends longer.  Jesse started creating more fine art and also worked for the Herschend Family's Silver Dollar City and Dollywood back into illustrating and theme park design.

His children, Ginny and Nick, have somehow survived the long years of being "models" for their dad, sometimes standing holding an imaginary kite or wearing an oversize uniform and playing an imaginary instrument. They will both miss his presence in their lives.

His job as grandpa will leave the largest hole behind.  Austin (Molly) followed his grandpa into the service of our country in the US Navy. He eventually got over him not being in the Coast Guard.  Audrey Sly was his partner in crime, and Tommie Leigh Hill followed him into the creative arts.

He leaves behind a lot of stories, pranks and laughter.

Any floral deliveries can be made directly to the church for this service.

Full military burial will follow on Monday, January 26, 11 a.m., at the Missouri Veterans Cemetery.

We are eternally grateful to the nurses, aides, social workers, and volunteers at Phoenix Hospice, honoring their selfless dedication to making difficult times more bearable.

Also, a special thanks to Randy Bacon who featured Jesse in his documentary, "The Soft Surrender" which premiered in late 2025.

Memorial donations in Jesse's memory are suggested for Council of Churches Safe To Sleep program - 3055 E. Division, Spfld., MO 65802 - ccozarks.org